Monday, January 10, 2011

Black rice aka Pulut Hitam is the new blueberry.


Printed in bold "Black rice tops the superfood hit list" briefly caught my attention while I was nonchalantly flicking the pages of a magazine in the cafe at the mall. I earmarked it so that I could show it to my wife, an avid follower of the "multi-grains" cooking regime, when she returned from her shopping. What was the big deal, you may ask. Just like the hits parade in the music scene, superfood is constantly being replaced by another new hit with the same old tune of promoting benefits such as anti-aging, detoxification, energy enhancement and immunity boosts. There is no definitive Top Ten hits list of superfood and I have long suspected that new food is regularly put forward, usually backed by persuasive advertising. However, there are still classical like apples and oranges but less likely to revive and spark a worldwide following to sing their praises.
Well, what actually interested me was the report that Black rice had joined and top the hits parade of superfood with salmon and blueberries as a nutrient and antioxidant-packed superfood, but at a fraction of the cost. Of course, it is comparatively much cheaper than blueberries; a small punnet of blueberries cost between $3.50 to $5.00 at our local fruit shop even at the height of its season.
Black Rice (Pulut Hitam) is as old as a folksong and has been sung and featured in many dessert dishes as black "sticky" rice especially among the South East Asian countries, but scientists at the 240th annual National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, in Boston, had only recently revealed it could actually be the greatest superfood. It also reported that researchers from Louisiana State University looked at samples of bran from black rice, discovering high levels of water-soluble anthocyanin antioxidants, which are responsible for the dark colours in many fruits and vegetables including blueberries.
Anthocyanin antioxidants have been found to help fight heart disease and cancer, as they help protect arteries and clear out harmful free radicals, Science Daily reported.
"Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health-promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar, and more fibre and vitamin E antioxidants," food scientist and lead researcher, Dr Zhimin Xu said in a media statement.
"If berries are used to boost health, why not black rice and black rice bran? Especially, black rice bran would be a unique and economical material to increase consumption of health-promoting antioxidants."
I do not know how long it will remain number one, so here is one of the old classical recipes for your collection. Please stay tune for the next number one in the hits parade.

Black Rice Porridge(Bubur Hitam) with Coconut Cream Recipe:

Ingredients:


300g black glutinous rice (washed & drained)
7 cups water
2 pandan leaves (tied into knots)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon tapioca flour or cornflour
1/2 cup thick coconut milk
a pinch of salt

Method:
Put black glutinous rice in pot with water and pandan leaves. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, remove pandan leaves then simmer for 45 minutes till rice is soften and porridge like. Add sugar and simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt.
Mix cornflour flour with 1 tablespoon of water. Stir mixture into pot to thicken.
Remove black glutinous rice porridge from heat and transfer into bowls. Drizzle with thick coconut milk on top before serving.

16 comments:

  1. hi 'zio' (zio means uncle in italian) thanks to add as follower on that's a murder ;-) this kind of porridge looks quite esotic to me. I like put attention in healty food too .
    ciao
    Fabio

    ReplyDelete
  2. Phil...my mum is Baba..she made this on some weekends, Some old memories huh? Thanks for sharing recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Phil, your blog is very interesting! There's many recipes that looks "esotic" to me. I like to put attention to helty food too. Ciao
    Fabio

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Fabio,
    With a co-contributor like Estee, who is also a Singaporean, your blog would be just as interesting and hopefully no more homicide to our native food. Haha.

    Ciao,
    Zio Phil

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Estee,
    Are you able to get the pulut hitam in Sweden?
    Let me know so that I can send you a kilo or two.
    Cheers,
    Phil

    ReplyDelete
  6. mm zio , I like to kill springrolls sometimes :-)))

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Fabio,
    You can try but it is impossible to kill. Those wilted vegetables, you have forgotten in the fridge will be given a new lease and spring back to life it you make them into springrolls :-O

    ReplyDelete
  8. Is this suitable for diabetic people

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Anonymous,
    Sorry, I cannot do not have an answer to your question. Can anyone help?
    Cheers,
    Phil

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hallo Uncle Phil

    Great to bump into your blog, u really have a fabulous food blog!

    I loved to eat pulut hitam (orh-bi-bur) when I was a child but my mum used to frown on it, she said u can eat as much as u like, if u land in jail in Spore!!! Is that true? hahaha.

    I hope I can replicate this dish one day, wait til I find some black rice here...

    cheers
    Bee

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Bee,
    Thanks for reading and visting to my blog. I notice that you are living in Belgium and hope that you can buy black rice there.BTW, I think what Mum meant was "or tow png" Rice cooked with black beans. I do not know whether there is any truth in this popular myth in Singapore as I haven't been or visit any prison before.Hehe! Any mythbuster or jailbird out there?
    Cheers,
    Phil

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, so what mum meant was 'or tow png'! Ur right! It would be a treat to have pulut hitam in jail indeed, maybe its just a myth. :) Is it just rice mixed with black beans? I have never seen any recipe on that b4 :)

    cheers
    Bee

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Bee,
    I think the 'or tow png' is traditionally offered to the dead or the condemmed. But I have a delicious rice with red beans or known as sekihan in Japan. It is believed that sekihan is used for celebrations because of its red color, symbolic of happiness in many Eastern Asian countries like Korea and China.

    Cheers,
    Phil

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Uncle Phil,

    if pandan leaves is not available can use pandan essence instead to cook bubur hitam?

    Cheers
    Song

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Song,
      I normally do not use the pandan essence in my cooking as I find them overpowering. Just add a little and let me know if you agree with me. :)

      Delete
    2. thanks Uncle Phil. will give it a try and let you know.

      Song

      Delete