It is commonly used to make rice cakes and various kinds of desserts, and processed to make rice snacks. Rice is usually threshed and polished after harvesting. However, white rice is ninety-eight percent digestible and brown rice are less easily digested. The attributes that have long attracted Asians to this grain are now becoming more well known to Westerners. Fans of rice cite its ease of preparation, its flexibility, and its ability to absorb flavors while retaining its texture.
Rice dishes can be spicy or tangy, savoury or sweet.
Rice soaks up gravies and rice sauces and cools and refreshes the palate when served with spicy food. Baked with milk and sugar, rice transforms itself into one of the western world s best-loved creamy puddings. Rice has no fat, no salt and no sugar but many important nutrients. Little wonder then that many of the world s finest dishes have been based around it. Its rising popularity in the West coincides with an increasing number of types and varieties being marketed.