Cereals processing technology

Rice production 99
The milling yield of parboiled rice is higher than milled rice because there are
fewer broken grains. The milled parboiled rice can be kept longer because
germination is no longer possible. The enzymes involved in germination were
inactivated during the parboiling process. The nutritive value of parboiled rice is
richer because of the higher vitamin and mineral content that has diffused into
the endosperm.
Parboiled rice takes a longer time to cook compared with ordinary milled rice
but is favored by the food industry in canned chicken rice soup and beef rice
soup. Parboiled rice is more resistant to textural changes that can occur during
the prolonged heating in the canning process. More detailed information on rice
parboiling can be found in Rice Utilization. 19
5.6.1 Quick-cooking rice
Quick-cooking rice is a popular product in the United States, Japan, and several
Western countries. Up to the present, quick-cooking rice available on the market
can be cooked in 5 min to reach a satisfactory level of culinary acceptability.
After cooking, the product should match the characteristic flavor, taste, and
texture of conventionally cooked rice. The quick-cooking rice must possess
good storage stability of 6–12 months at ambient temperature. The product
should be packaged properly in plastic film bags of special design against
moisture changes during storage.
To prepare quick-cooking rice, it is necessary to precook the rice and
gelatinize the starch to some extent in water, steam, or both. The cooked or
partially cooked rice is usually dehydrated in such a manner as to retain the rice
grains in a porous and open-structured condition. The finished product should
consist of dry, individual kernels, be free of lumps, and have approximately one
and a half to three times the bulk volume of the raw rice.
Many quick-cooking rice products are designed specifically for certain
consumer markets. Some quick-cooking rice for special applications, such as dry
soup mixes, casseroles, or other dry food mixtures that have certain dehydration
requirements, were designed to be compatible with the ingredients in the mix.
5.6.2 Types of quick-cooking rice
Difference in precooking times and temperature, dehydration conditions, and
processing variables results in various types of quick-cooking rice. These range
from relatively undercooked rice, requiring 10–15 min of cooking time, to a
good quick-cooking rice requiring 5 min preparation time. Minute Rice Õ ,a
commercial rice product, can be rehydrated with hot water in a minute or two,
which yields a fairly mushy product when boiled with water. Completely
precooked rice should be used in cup and standing form because no further
cooking is necessary during preparation. The other types could use either
completely or partially cooked rice products. Except for the standing-type
commercial product, all others usually contain a seasoning mix. As for quality