Black Sweet Rice

What is black sweet rice? In reality, there are other varieties of black rice, such as Thai jasmine black rice, Indonesian black rice, Philippine balatinaw black rice, and pirurutong black glutinous rice. This medium-grain rice has its origins around 10,000 years ago in China and other regions of Asia. Its other well-known name, "forbidden rice," derives from the fact that it was previously only permissible for the Chinese emperor to eat it in order to preserve his health and longevity. Black rice is now readily available in Asian specialty markets and your neighborhood grocer. The color of black rice, which is essentially the result of a gene mutation, is what distinguishes it from other grains that are identical to it. It appears black while raw, but when cooked, it takes on more of a deep purple hue. The distinct color is attributed to the presence of anthocyanins in the bran hull, or outermost layer, of the grain. Depending on their pH, these chemical compounds—which are the same pigments that give Concord grapes, blueberries, and eggplants their color—can look red, purple, blue, or black. In terms of flavor, black rice is comparable to brown rice in that it has a subtle,…