Instant rice facts for kids
Instant rice is a special type of white rice that's made to cook super fast! Unlike regular rice, it's already partly cooked and then dried out. This means you can make it in about 5 minutes, which is much quicker than the 20-30 minutes needed for regular white rice.
This speedy rice was invented by Ataullah K. Ozai‐Durrani in 1939. Later, a company called General Foods started selling it widely in 1946 under the name Minute Rice. You can still find this brand today!
It's important not to confuse instant rice with other types of quick rice. For example, "microwave ready rice" is already fully cooked and just needs to be heated up in a microwave oven for about a minute. There's also parboiled rice, sometimes called "converted" rice. Parboiled rice is treated to keep more nutrients from the brown rice it comes from, not to make it cook faster.
How Instant Rice is Made
Making instant rice involves a few steps that are a bit like how you might cook rice at home, but on a much bigger scale!
First, the rice grains are quickly boiled in hot water, a process called blanching. Then, they are steamed and rinsed. After that, the rice goes into big ovens to be dried. This drying process removes most of the water until the rice is very dry.
The main trick is that during this process, tiny cracks or holes are made in each rice grain. When you cook instant rice later, water can easily get into these cracks. This is why it cooks so much faster than regular rice!
Pros and Cons of Instant Rice
Instant rice has some great benefits, but also a few downsides.
Advantages
The biggest advantage of instant rice is how quickly it cooks. Some brands can be ready to eat in just three minutes! There are even some types that cook in only 90 seconds, almost as fast as instant noodles. This makes it super convenient when you're in a hurry.
Disadvantages
Because of all the special steps needed to make it, instant rice usually costs more than regular white rice. Also, the process that creates the cracks in the grains can sometimes cause more rice grains to break apart in the package.
Like all white rice, instant rice has fewer nutrients than brown rice because the outer layers are removed. However, just like regular white rice, instant rice can be made healthier by adding back important nutrients like B-vitamins. Some people also find that instant rice isn't as firm as regular rice and might not have as much flavor, which is why some chefs don't prefer it.
