Instant Pot Forbidden Rice

by Jackie Miao

A BOWL OF SUPERFOOD

Anthocyanins… you get them from foods like blueberries and blackberries, but did you know that black rice, or “forbidden rice” (as it is called here in America) has more concentrations of the anti-oxidative flavonoids that help fight free radicals? Moreover, it may offer anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-cancer benefits.

That is why I love making and eating black rice. It also tastes great! When I was a child growing up in Borneo, my grandparents would make black rice congee and eat it with the family for nutritional value. Black rice is a crop that is grown in Borneo by small farms in Sabah, and the Bario area in Sarawak. We just call it “kampung rice” or “wu mi” in Hakka.

Taste-wise, it has a very floral fragrance that is different from Jasmine rice. Now that I live in the U.S., instead of congee I just make it to eat in place of white rice every now and again for the nutritional benefits.

I TRY NOT TO BE A RICE SNOB, BUT…

As a paddy-country native and person of East Asian descent, I’ve eaten my fair share of the best quality rice as a staple since I was a toddler. When I first got the Instant Pot, I scoured high and low for pressure-cooked rice recipes. I tried a few recipes from IP blogs to IP cookbooks. Alas, I was disappointed ALL TIMES, because the rice was either too dry, or too wet for my liking. The cooking times and water to rice ratio was just all wrong.

The following recipe is my own, and a quick way to make black rice in the Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker. I prefer to pressure cook my rice now, because of the uniformity of texture and consistency in bite. With a regular rice cooker, the heating element cooks the rice on contact, and the steam produced isn’t pressurized. Therefore, you end up with softer/mushier rice on the lower half, and chewier rice on the upper half. With the Instant Pot, you don’t get that. The rice is cooked on high pressure, and so the whole pot of grains are just perfectly cooked from top to bottom.

P.s. Make sure you get regular black rice, and not sticky or sweet black rice. They are different!

As always, if you make it using my recipe, let me know your thoughts below.

Instant Pot Forbidden Rice

Quick and easy perfect morsels of steamed black rice for your health and happiness.
No ratings yet
Print Pin Rate
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Asian
Keyword: Rice, black rice, forbidden rice, anthocyanins, antioxidants, flavonoids, healthy
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Quick release at: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 4 cups forbidden or black rice organic
  • 4 1/2 cups filtered water

Instructions

  • Measure out 4 cups of rice into the inner cooking pot of the Instant Pot.
  • Wash the rice by rubbing the grains firmly, but gently in generous levels of water over the sink. 
  • Drain the water, and repeat the process 3 times. Wash the rice in 3 changes of water, or until water is clear.
  • When you drain the last change of water, make sure you drain all of it before the next step. The Instant Pot cooks the rice using high pressure, and does not evaporate moisture like a regular rice cooker.
  • Measure 4 1/2 cups of filtered water into the inner pot, submerging all the rice grains. (Wipe the base of the inner pot with a tea towel for safety, before placing the pot inside the heating pot. You don’t want to short the heating element).
  • Close the lid, and set the valve on the “sealing” setting. Then press the “pressure cook” button, and set the time to 15 minutes. (It will take a while for the contents to come up to pressure).
  • Let the Instant Pot do its thing. When the timer goes off, you have 2 options. Either you can do a quick release at 10 minutes if you need dinner ASAP, or let the pressure release naturally for about 15 minutes.
  • Serve black rice with any Asian dish that goes well with rice.

Notes

WAYS TO USE COOKED BLACK RICE
In Korean gimbap, salads, soups, with Chinese or any South East Asian dish requiring rice. It’s excellent with curries and stir fries.
 
 

You may also like

Leave a Comment

Recipe Rating




This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More

Privacy & Cookies Policy