Rainbow Rice Recipe, using all natural ingredients!
Hi guys!
One of my resolutions for 2021 is to eat as much rainbow color food as possible. Think how much we consume white food (white rice, flour, sugar and etc) but not eating enough colorful food in our diet.
When I go grocery shopping and prepare meals, I notice I use lots of white, green and a bit of red but not much other variety colors. This changed my mentality of choosing & grabbing which ingredients at grocery stores and since then I’ve tried so many veggies and fruits that I’d never had picked up before.
The other day I just woke up and thought, “Why don’t I make rainbow rice?” I have no idea where that came from, but it sounded so much fun! I researched if there’s any rainbow rice or colored rice that made natural ingredients to eat.
Guess what?
I couldn’t find any.
So I decided to make this beautifully colored rice with natural ingredients and show you guys how! Basic rice cooking technique is all you need, nothing special about cooking colored rice. You just need to know which ingredients to use to create those colors.
Are we ready? Let’s get started!
First, I want to show you my everyday rice. A lot of you asked me what’s my choice of rice and this is the brand of rice I use daily bases (picture above). Also pictures down below are great rice too.
For more details of basic cooking rice on a stove, check out my Perfect White Rice on a Stove recipe!
Red Yeast Rice 紅曲米
Red yeast rice is capable of lowering blood cholesterol levels. There are red yeast rice supplements but why not enjoy them as food instead of powder or pill? This way we can consume in a more natural way with other nutrients and enjoy the benefits too!
Red Yeast Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup short/medium grain white rice, washed & drained
- 1 tbsp red yeast rice
- Water
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Instructions
- Rinse red yeast rice lightly under running cold water and add into a pot along with washed and drained white rice.
- Place tip of your index finger touching top of the rice and pour water until first finger knuckle. It’s about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cup.
- Cover, bring it to a boil over high/medium-high heat, stir when it’s boiling. Cover back on and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. You can also use a rice cooker if you have one.
Notes
Look how beautiful red color it is!! I actually used about 4 tbsp but I think it was WAY TOO MUCH red yeast rice. 1 tbsp red yeast rice per 1 cup of rice will do the job!
Alright, move on to the next, Yellow Chija Rice 치자밥
For the yellow rice, we will be using Chija. (Gardenia fruit) It’s used to make medicine back in the day and it still is.
Chija is used for swelling (inflammation), liver-disorders, diabetes and helps lowering blood pressure. I don’t recommend you consume this if you have low blood pressure or are always feeling cold.
Yellow Chija Rice
Ingredients
- A few slices of dried Chija, Gardenia Fructus
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup short/medium grain brown or white rice, washed & drained
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Instructions
- Combine Chija fruits and water in a measuring cup and let it sit overnight.
- Place rice into a pot and pour chija infused water but not fruits.
- Cover, bring it to a boil over high/medium-high heat, stir when it’s boiling. Cover back on and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 45 minutes for brown rice /10 minutes for white rice then remove from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. You can also use rice cooker if you have one.
- Fluff up rice with a rice spatula and enjoy as normal rice!
Next, Jade Pearl Rice!
Isn’t this rice color os elegant? I think my mom will love this rice for the color! It really looks like Jade color!
Jade Pearl rice is nutritionally dense and provides a high amount of protein, fiber and chlorophyll. Also beautiful to look at, who wouldn’t love this rice?!
Jade Pearl Rice
Instructions
- Place Jade Pearl rice in a pot. Place tip of your index finger touching top of the rice and pour water until first finger knuckle.
- Cover, bring it to a boil over high/medium-high heat, stir when it’s boiling. Cover back on and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes
- Fluff up rice with rice spatula and enjoy as normal rice!
You waited for a long time! I know this is your favorite rice, Korean purple rice!
For purple rice, we will use black rice. Yes, you heard me, black rice. Add a bit of black rice to white rice, it will turn into this beautiful purple color. The most fun part of this is you can create your favorite purple color by controlling how much black rice you add into white rice.
Black rice is high in antioxidants and contains more protein than brown rice. It helps boosting eye and heart health, protecting against certain forms of cancer and aiding weight loss.
I shared how to make multigrain rice recipe with purple rice. If you want to check it out, tap/click down below link!
Purple Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup short/medium grain white rice, washed & drained
- 1 to 2 tbsp short/medium grain black rice, washed & drained
- Water
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Instructions
- Place white and black rice in a pot. Add 1 tsp for lavender color, 1 tbsp for violet or 2 tbsp for deep color like mine.
- Place tip of your index finger touching top of the rice and pour water until first finger knuckle.
- Cover, bring it to a boil over high/medium-high heat, stir when it’s boiling. Cover back on and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. You can also use rice cooker if you have one.
- Fluff up rice with a rice spatula and enjoy as normal rice!
The last but not least, Sunset Red Beet Rice!
Honestly this red beet rice will turn into pink rice…. but instead, it became a beautiful Hawaii sunset color! I’m not gonna lie, first I was a bit disappointed because I was looking for that bright pink color rice. But the more I look at it, I love how it turned out to be one of my favorite things in this world, Hawaii sunset. ❤️
Red beets are full of essential nutrients, a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Beets help improve blood flow, lower blood pressure and increase exercise performance.
Hawaiian Sunset Beet Rice
Ingredients
- 1 slice red beet
- 2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cup short/medium grain white rice, washed & drained
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Instructions
- Combine Chija fruits and water in a measuring cup and let it sit for overnight.
- Place rice into a pot and pour chija infused water but not fruits.
- Cover, bring it to a boil over high/medium-high heat, stir when it’s boiling. Cover back on and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 45 minutes for brown rice /10 minutes for white rice then remove from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. You can also use rice cooker if you have one. Fluff up rice with a rice spatula and enjoy as normal rice!
2 comments
Love your blog. Love anything Korean!!
Very interesting way of adding color and extra nutritional value to rice. Need to try some of these..?
It was super fun to create different colors of rice. Purple is my absolute favroite!