Tamaki Haiga Rice (Haiga Mai)

Time for a mini-lesson in rice anatomy and in Japanese. First the Japanese. Haiga means rice germ. Mai is the Japanese word for uncooked rice (cooked rice is gohan). Now for the anatomy. Each grain of rice is a seed. Nature protects it with an inedible hull. Beneath the hull, each grain is surrounded by a rough layer of bran. Rice milled so that the bran layer remains intact is brown rice. Inside the bran layer is the familiar white starchy kernel. Near one end of the kernel is a small spot called the germ. The germ is the nutrient-rich embryo from which a new plant would grow. When rice is milled to the familiar white stage, the germ as well as the bran are removed. Here's where haiga mai differs. It is white rice—except with the germ intact. It is more nutritious than white rice but tastes almost the same. The color is light tan, as opposed to the snowy white of Japanese short-grain white rice. Haiga mai is a relatively new product on American shelves, having become popular first in Japan, where picky consumers are both health conscious and attached to white short-grain rice. Our local Japanese markets carry Tamaki haiga rice in tan bags. We love it, and we think you will, too. If you don't live near a Japanese market, you can order it from www.tamakimai.com. One caution—haiga mai should be gently rinsed in cool water to remove an oily bran residue that can impart a rancid taste, but don't wash it vigorously as you would white rice, or you will wash off the precious rice germ. If the following proportions make the rice softer than you like, next time use just 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water.

To Salt or Not to Salt: Salt is a flavor enhancer. When added in the environment of the rice cooker, it is absorbed into each grain of rice during the cooking. We have detected that some rices, especially brown rices and the aromatic rices, can get a bit of a bitter edge from salt, masking the delicate flavor of the rice. To salt or not to salt is a decision that you will have to make in your own kitchen. The addition of salt to rice is a purely personal preference and also varies depending on how you plan to serve it. For instance, if you are serving the rice with roasted meat, you might want to salt it to taste. If the rice will be served with a spicy curry or salty stir-fry, you wouldn't need the salt. We have specified salt in some of the recipes that follow, but you may choose to eliminate it without affecting the recipe adversely. If you do add salt, add it with the water and swirl a few times to evenly distribute. If you are using a stock that already has salt added, or miso, the rice will not need salt. Some unhulled rices, such as Wehani, are minimally processed and are always cooked without salt in order to ensure the most tender results.

Types of Salt: Salt is not just a blue box with a little girl in a raincoat and umbrella anymore; there are fine, downright exquisite, salts on the market. Fine iodized table salt (mechanically removed from rock salt deposits, with potassium iodine and magnesium silicate added to prevent caking) and fine sea salt (from saline deposits at the edge of the sea) can be used interchangeably. Sun-evaporated, unrefined sea salts retain their complementary minerals, calcium, potassium, and magnesium, which give a distinct flavor reminiscent of the sea. We use La Baleine, an iodized sun-evaporated fine sea salt from the Mediterranean that contains no preservatives or anticaking agents (you'll find it at the supermarket), or Japanese sea salt, which we buy at the Asian market. If you buy regular sea salt, you want fine-crystal, which is finer than table salt, or medium-crystal, which is ground like table salt. Kosher salt (which is mined, but contains no additives) is preferred by many cooks for its purity and milder flavor. Coarse salts, usually for sprinkling after a food is cooked, must be ground in a salt grinder before being added to the cooking water. Ducros of Provence markets sea salt in its own disposable grinder. Celtic Sea Salt, touted by the macrobiotic community for its health-giving properties, is pale gray. Fleur de Sel de Guerande, from Brittany and available from King Arthur, is hand-harvested. Fleur de sel, the "flower of salt" that is the top layer in sun-evaporation pans, is so coveted that the pretty white crystals are simply sprinkled over hot rice with some sweet butter. Take a chance and experiment with the flavor of salt as you would with any other premium ingredient.

MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker; fuzzy logic or on/off CYCLE: Regular YIELD: Serves 3 to 4

1. Place the rice in a bowl and fill half-full with cold water. Gently swirl the rice in the water with your hand. Carefully pour off most of the water through a mesh strainer or by holding one cupped hand under the stream to catch any grains of rice that are carried away with the water.
2. Place the rice and the water in the rice cooker bowl. (You may need slightly more or less water, depending upon the age and the degree of moisture content in the rice kernel.) Swirl to combine. If time allows, let the rice soak in the water for 30 minutes before cooking.
3. Close the cover and set for the Regular cycle.
4. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the rice steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Fluff the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. This rice will hold for 2 hours on Keep Warm. Serve hot with some excellent soy sauce and butter.

From www.tamakimai.com