The Cook’s Kitchen

The history and traditions surrounding some the regional foods we eat tell a wonderful tale. If you have not yet discovered Minnesota wild rice, let me tell you a short story.  First off, you may be surprised to learn that wild rice is not rice at all.  It’s actually a cereal grain.  Even though it grows from New England to North Dakota, I generally refer to it as Minnesota wild rice because the largest plants and the largest abundance of them are found there. Stalks ten to twelve feet tall are not uncommon. Wild rice does have a few aliases such as Blackbird Oats, Wild Oats, Indian Oats or Indian Rice.  Wild rice is high in protein and low in fat.   It is also high in carbohydrates, converts easily to energy in the body and contains proteins essential to growth.  It’s easily digested, rich in thiamin, riboflavin and Vitamin B.  Besides all that, it tastes great!

In Minnesota the original harvesting fields are protected and Native Americans for the most part do almost all of the harvesting which occurs in late August or September. Harvesting is still done in the traditional fashion using a pole powered canoe or flat bottomed wooden boat.  One person poles the boat and another bends the stalk over and knocks the kernels into the boat using two sticks. The rice is then processed, cleaned, dried and packaged for delivery.  This method only yields between 100 and 200 pounds of rice per acre. There are some commercial paddy rice operations and marketers that sell “boxed rice” products, but do yourself a favor and purchase some real “wild rice”. The difference is really noticeable.

The slightly chewy, and nutty, earthy flavor is wonderful in a variety of things from pancakes and breads to soups and casseroles and of course just by itself. Blending it with regular rice is another option.  Oftentimes it is served to accent wild game like venison or pheasant but it is equally at home sharing a plate with salmon, walleye or perch. One cup of wild rice will give almost 3 cups of cooked rice, so a little goes a long way. Cooking is really easy. For the basic recipe, just rinse it and add one cup of wild rice to 3 cups of boiling water or broth then simmer for about an hour until the kernels split open. At the end of cooking, excess liquid can be drained off if needed.  Wild rice freezes well so it’s nice to have on hand for adding to soups of for making a quick side dish.

Wild rice can be found in specialty markets, cooking stores and of course on the internet. Expect to pay between $5 and $10 a pound.