Patent ID: 7357954

Claim:
A process for preparing instant rice comprising: a milling step for milling brown rice to remove a controlled proportion of bran layer; a primary immersing step for causing rice grains obtained in the said milling step to absorb water; a primary alpha-type conversion step for converting surface layers of the rice grains obtained in the said immersing step to the alpha-structure type, wherein the converting of the surface layers comprises about 60% to 90% of the rice grains being converted to the alpha-structure type; a preliminary drying step for drying the rice grains obtained in the said primary alpha-type conversion step up to a moisture content higher than a moisture content after final drying; a final polishing step for consummatively polishing the rice grains obtained in the said preliminary drying step; a secondary immersing step for causing the rice grains obtained in the said final polishing step to absorb water once again; a secondary alpha-type conversion step for completely converting the rice grains obtained in the said secondary immersing step to the alpha-type; a separation-into-single-grains step for separating the rice grains obtained in the said secondary alpha-type conversion step into single grains; and a final drying step for consummatively drying the rice grains obtained in the said separation-into-single-grains step.