Black Rice: Types, Cooking and the Sticky Rice Difference

What makes black rice

The color sits in the outer layer of the grain. Anthocyanins, the same pigments as in blueberries or red cabbage, color the bran. That is why you almost always buy black rice as whole grain: polish it and a pale grain is left. The inside of the grain is white to cream.

While cooking, some of the color dissolves and turns water, coconut milk and anything else in the pot purple. Wooden boards and light work surfaces also take on the color, so wipe up splashes right away.

Cooked, black rice tastes nutty, slightly sweet and a bit more robust than white rice. The bran gives the grain a bite that stays even after long cooking.

Sticky or non-sticky: the two types

Two products in the store are both called "black rice," and they behave differently in the kitchen.

• Black sticky rice (Thai: khao niao dam, Indonesian: ketan hitam). Its core is almost pure amylopectin, the starch that makes sticky rice sticky. It suits sweet porridges and desserts with coconut milk. The package often says "glutinous" or "sticky."
• Black non-sticky rice, grown in China and Italy, also sold as "forbidden rice" or Venere rice. The grains stay separate after cooking. You use it as a side dish, for rice salads or bowls.

Despite the name, sticky rice contains no gluten. Both types are gluten-free.

If you are cooking a Southeast Asian dessert recipe, you need the sticky type. With Venere rice, a porridge like bubur ketan hitam turns out grainy and watery instead of creamy.

Cooking black rice

The bran lengthens the cooking time. Soaking saves time and gives evenly cooked grains.

1. Wash the rice in a bowl of cold water until the water is only lightly colored. With black rice it never runs fully clear.
2. Soak in fresh water for at least four hours or overnight. You can use the soaking water in desserts, because it carries color.
3. For non-sticky rice: bring the rice to a boil with about twice the amount of water and a pinch of salt, cover, and let it steam over low heat for 25 to 35 minutes. Without soaking, plan on about 40 minutes and a little more water.
4. For black sticky rice as a porridge: simmer with plenty of water and stir regularly until the grains burst and the mass turns creamy. For steamed sticky rice, proceed as with white sticky rice, see cooking sticky rice.
5. Finally, rest for ten minutes with the lid closed.

Taste a grain: it should have bite outside and be soft inside. A hard, chalky center means the rice needs more time and a splash of water.

A trick from Thailand: mix a quarter black sticky rice into white sticky rice and steam both together. The white rice turns purple, and the mix gets softer than pure black rice.

Uses in Asian cooking

In Southeast Asia, black sticky rice mostly ends up in dessert. In Indonesia and Malaysia, families cook it with palm sugar and pandan into a warm porridge and pour salted coconut milk over it. In Thailand many people eat it similarly, or steamed with mango and coconut cream, as in this dessert with black rice, coconut cream and mango. You will find the classic version with white sticky rice under khao niew mamuang.

Black non-sticky rice suits savory dishes. It holds up to dressing without turning mushy and gives bowls color. You can also use it instead of white rice in rice porridge, in the style of khao tom, though the soup then turns purple.

For fried rice, black rice works only to a degree. The firm grains absorb sauce less well than day-old white rice. A third black rice mixed into white rice works, for example in yakimeshi.

Black rice substitutes

• For desserts: white sticky rice. The flavor gets milder, the texture stays similar. A piece of pandan leaf in the cooking water makes up for some aroma.
• For side dishes and salads: red rice or brown whole-grain rice. Both have a similar bite and cooking times.
• For looks: wild rice looks similarly dark, but botanically it is a grass and tastes earthier. It works in salads, not in sticky rice dessert.

Buying and storage

You can find black sticky rice at Asian grocery stores, usually on the shelf with sticky rice and in packs from Thailand. Look for "glutinous" on the label. Black non-sticky rice is stocked by well-supplied supermarkets and health food stores, often with the specialty rices. Online you can get both types, but read the description closely, because sellers mix up the terms.

Store uncooked black rice airtight, cool and dark. As a whole grain it contains fat in the bran, which can turn rancid over time. So use it within a few months of opening and smell it before cooking.

Cool cooked rice quickly and put it in the fridge covered. It keeps there for one to two days. Black sticky rice turns firm in the fridge. Steam it briefly or warm the porridge with a little water or coconut milk.