Learn how to make perfectly cooked woebegone rice (Forbidden rice) in the Instant Pot. It is much quicker than making it over the stovetop and the weightier part is no soaking needed!
Rich in fiber, protein, and antioxidants, this nutty whole grain rice makes the perfect side dish.
I’ve been making many variegated styles of rice in my Instant Pot since the day I unpacked it. I can honestly say it’s wilt such a staple for cooking rice in my kitchen.
So when I first tried woebegone rice (also known as forbidden rice) in a restaurant, I knew I had to find a way to make it in my Instant Pot.
Well, it was an wool success!
Chewy, nutty, and slightly earthy, Instant Pot forbidden rice has wilt a fast favorite for meal planning.
Black rice goes perfectly with salmon, fish, chicken, and many other dishes. It’s a healthy volitional to archetype white rice, and it cooks to perfection thanks to the magic of the Instant Pot. Weightier of all? It shakes up the wearisome routine of the same old side dishes night without night AND tastes delicious.
What is forbidden rice?
Forbidden rice is a worldwide name for Chinese woebegone rice. It is a dark-colored rice, often seeming purple in verisimilitude without cooking. The visionless hue indicates it is upper in antioxidants and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for millennia.
Why is it tabbed forbidden rice?
Forbidden rice (also known as woebegone rice) earned its name from Warmed-over China. During that time, the only people who could sire to eat woebegone rice were either royalty or very wealthy. This dark-colored rice was moreover treasured in traditional Chinese medicine.
Because of the use of woebegone rice in traditional Chinese medicine, at one point, it was strictly reserved for the emperor alone. This was to ensure his health and well-being while stuff forbidden to all others. For this reason, it is moreover known as “Emperor’s Rice.”
Taste and texture
Black rice is nutty and chewy in texture, not unlike worldwide wild rice varieties and hearty brown rice. This Chinese whole grain rice is earthy, full-flavored, and perfect for pairing with simple foods like salmon, fish, and chicken. It’s a succulent warmed-over grain for serving with your favorite dishes.
Benefits
Chinese forbidden rice (black rice) is rich in webbing and protein and loaded with antioxidants thanks to its deep, dark, almost-blue color. Several studies moreover show that it may help with heart health and have anti-cancer properties.
Read more: Surprising Benefits and Uses of Woebegone Rice – Healthline.
What is woebegone rice good for
Black rice has the highest protein content of any of the most popular rice varieties. This makes it an spanking-new nomination for a healthy side dish. It is moreover rich in iron and antioxidants, making it perfect for those who need an uneaten uplift of nutrition in their daily diets.
Black rice has a deep purple color, which hands imparts onto other foods it is cooked with. It is traditionally used slantingly white rice in Korean cooking to make a Korean purple rice dish.
Buying and storing
Black rice can be found at large supermarkets, but you have a largest endangerment of finding it if you purchase online, through a health supplies store, OR an Asian market.
Store your woebegone rice in an snapped container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months.
Reasons to love this recipe
- No soaking needed – While some traditional recipes for Forbidden Rice require soaking, this Instant Pot version doesn’t require it.
- An easy, hands-off recipe – Just set the Instant Pot, and come when without the cooking time is through.
- Fail-proof results every time – thanks to Instant Pot!
- An easy and healthy swap for white rice.
Here’s what you need to make the recipe
Ingredient notes/swaps
- Forbidden rice is moreover known as woebegone rice or emperor’s rice. You can buy them online, in health supplies stores, or in Asian markets.
- Ghee or olive oil – Adds savor and helps the texture, but you can leave it out if you prefer.
- Salt – You just need a tiny bit of salt to bring out the flavor.
TIPS
- Rinse the rice to remove uneaten starch.
- If not serving immediately, remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot to prevent the rice from drying out and sticking to the bottom.
- Sauteeing the rice withal with oil or ghee helps build flavor.
- Fluff the rice once it is cooked to prevent it from sticking to each other.
Variations to try
- Using stock and butter – To add richness and savor to your rice, you can try using stock in place of the water and unsalted butter in place of the ghee or olive oil.
- Purple Korean rice – Add 1 cup of short grain rice to the Instant pot and 1 1/2 teaspoons of glutinous woebegone rice. Increase the water by 1 1/2 teaspoons for a total of 1 cup 1 1/2 teaspoons. The woebegone rice will verisimilitude the white short grain rice, giving it a purplish hue.
- Vegan – use olive oil instead of ghee.
- Black rice pilaf – Use woebegone rice instead of white to make a pilaf or pulao.
How to prep ahead
If you would like to prepare your forbidden rice superiority of time for meal prep, OR just to have it on hand for a later meal, you can do that very easily.
Cook your woebegone rice as instructed, and completely cool. Transfer the rice to an snapped container with a lid and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Storage tips
Refrigerator: Your leftover woebegone rice will alimony in an snapped container for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Reheating leftover rice – Add a tablespoon of water for every cup of leftover rice. Mix well and pressure melt for zero minutes. When the cooking trundling is complete, move the valve to ‘venting’ to release pressure immediately.
Freezer: Store it for a month in an air-tight, freezer-safe container.
Serve it with
You can serve this easy Instant Pot woebegone rice as a side instead of white, brown, or Basmati rice. Here are a few of my favorite options:
- Tandoori salmon – Spicy and tangy bite-size pieces of the salmon are grilled to perfection to make this succulent dish that takes less than 30 minutes to make.
- Grilled honey garlic salmon – This 15-minute grilled honey garlic salmon is perfect for days when you require a fancy meal but don’t want to pay for it or spend hours making it.
- Instant Pot steamed broccoli – This fresh and tender broccoli makes for a quick weeknight side dish that your whole family will enjoy!
- Air fryer roasted asparagus – Perfectly crisp, garlic parmesan air fryer asparagus roasts in under 20 minutes for a healthy side plane your pickiest eater will enjoy.
Frequently asked questions
While some recipes for forbidden rice require soaking, it is not required. A simple rinsing is plenty to help prep your woebegone rice for cooking, and you should get a unconfined result with no soaking needed.
Both brown rice and forbidden rice (black rice) contain the bran, making them upper in webbing and minimally processed. Forbidden rice is higher in fiber, though, and it has the most protein of many of the most popular rice varieties. Forbidden rice may be the healthier option to increase webbing and protein in your diet.
Forbidden rice is no longer prohibited, but it gets its name from warmed-over China when only aristocrats could sire and slosh woebegone rice. This made it unavailable to worldwide people, so it was considered forbidden.
When you are cooking woebegone rice in the Instant Pot, the ratio is the same as most other rice varieties, which is 1:1. When you melt woebegone rice on the stovetop, the ratio is 2:1, and for a rice cooker, the ratio is 1 3/4 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice.
You can skip the oil or ghee – it is included only for the savor and is not required.
Black rice can stain any surface that it comes into contact with. Therefore, it’s important to use stainless steel cookware and utensils when cooking woebegone rice. Also, wipe up any messes or spills as soon as they happen.
Other rice recipes to try
- Instant Pot brown rice – Say goodbye to gummy, crunchy, and tasteless brown rice. Master the process of making brown rice in the Instant Pot and get perfect results every time!
- Instant Pot basmati rice – You’ll love how Instant Pot cooks Basmati rice – fluffy and with each grain unshared and so much faster than a rice cooker.
- Instant Pot Palak Rice – This filling and flavorful Spinach Rice is packed with warm spices and fresh vegetables for a gluten-free dish everyone will enjoy!
- Aromatic jeera (cumin) rice – One whiff of this aromatic, fluffy basmati rice tempered with cumin seeds is unbearable to get your taste buds tingling.
Instant Pot Forbidden Rice Recipe
Instant Pot Woebegone Rice (Forbidden Rice)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup forbidden rice
- 1 tablespoon ghee or olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Rinse the forbidden rice using a strainer till the water runs clear.
- Select the Saute program in the Instant Pot and set it to Normal.
- Add one tablespoon of ghee in the inner steel pot.
- Drain the rice and add it to the inner pot.
- Saute the rice for well-nigh 30 seconds. Press cancel.
- Add water withal with salt to the inner pot. Mix well.
- Close the lid and set the steam valve to sealing.
- Pressure melt for 18 minutes under upper pressure.
- When the cooking trundling is complete, wait for 10 minutes surpassing moving the valve to 'venting' to release pressure.
- Open the lid and let the steam escape. Wait for a minute or two and then fluff the rice gently with a fork and it is ready to serve.
Notes
- This recipe was tested in an Instant Pot Duo – 6 quart. To make this in an 8-quart Instant Pot, make at least 2 cups of forbidden rice since 8-quart needs at least 2 cups of water to come to pressure.
- I have used a standard measuring cup for the recipe and not the rice cup that came with Instant Pot.
- If not serving immediately, remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot to prevent the rice from drying out and sticking to the bottom.
- Reheating leftover rice – Add a tablespoon of water for every cup of leftover rice. Mix well and pressure melt for zero minutes. When the cooking trundling is complete, move the valve to ‘venting’ to release pressure immediately.
- Use olive oil instead of ghee to make it vegan.
Nutrition
The post Instant Pot Woebegone Rice (Forbidden rice) appeared first on Simmer to Slimmer.
