Is it me or does yellow rice taste better than white? It’s a visual thing! Color affects how we perceive taste. When our tastebuds come into contact with food, they send signals to our brain to interpret flavor. But we look at food before eating so our eyes are sending signals first. This causes us to have an interpretation of what the food tastes like even before it crosses our lips.
What gives yellow rice that appetizing hue? Turmeric! Merely a handful of years ago, I didn’t even know what turmeric was. These days, not only do I always have fresh root on hand but I buy ground turmeric by the pound. How did I go from not knowing what turmeric was to buying it by the pound? I read How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger and learned a vast amount of information about food and health. Turmeric was one of many things I began to incorporate into my diet after learning the health benefits!
You might wonder what I use all this turmeric in? Everything. Beans, rice, curries, tofu seasoning, chili, oatmeal, even green smoothies!
What is Turmeric?
A cousin to ginger root, turmeric root and looks very similar until you cut into it and reveal it’s brilliant orange color!
Turmeric is commonly used in Asian and Middle Eastern dishes (and a large portion of my cooking!) adding not only a richness of color but powerful health benefits including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiviral, and antibacterial activities. Over one hundred clinical studies have been carried out with curcumin, the yellow pigment in turmeric, and its health benefits.
Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric but our bodies don’t easily absorb it, so always pair turmeric with fresh ground black pepper. The active ingredient in black pepper, piperine, increases the bioavailability of curcumin by 2000%!1
Is there arsenic in rice?
Possibly. But hear me out, I assure you that the benefits from eating rice far out weight possible arsenic risks and there are actions you can take to help reduce exposure!
Arsenic is a naturally occurring heavy metal found in rock, soil, and water. Inorganic arsenic is what we really need to worry about and it can be found from contaminated soil and ground water from livestock manure, fertilizer, pesticides, or industrial waste. The reason arsenic levels can be higher in rice than other grains is because rice crops sit in standing water.
There are actions you can take to reduce the chance that your rice is tainted with arsenic!
- Buy rice grown in California! Avoid buying rice from southern U.S. states (I’m looking at you, Texas) as the fertilizers of yore used to be arsenic-laced when growing cotton crops.
- Soak rice for at least 15 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly before cooking with fresh water. Soaking for longer also reduces cooking time. This is easier to monitor when cooking on the stovetop versus a pressure cooker but I find soaking for 15 minutes or less before the cooking in the Instant Pot is just fine.
- Cook rice with much more water than instructions call for. Once rice is finished cooking, strain extra water out and rinse rice one more time. This step alone can reduce any arsenic levels by 50% but unfortunately some water-soluble B vitamins will also be lost.2
Would you rather make Yellow Rice on the stovetop? Try my stovetop recipe here!
Yellow Rice in the Instant Pot
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Vibrant and flavorful Yellow Rice cooked quick and easy in the Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 1 1/4 cup Cold water
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp Black pepper
Instructions
- Soak rice in cold water for 15 minutes.
- In a fine mesh strainer, rinse rice in cold water until water runs clear. Place rinsed rice in the Instant Pot.
- Add all of the other ingredients to the Instant Pot.
- Cook on High Pressure for 7 minutes. Do a full natural release.
Notes
*Don’t forget to put leftover rice in the fridge promptly! Rice (and beans) are prone to bacteria that causes food-borne illness after being left out at room temperature for over two hours.
*Yellow Rice keeps in the fridge in a well-sealed container for about 5 days.
- Prep Time: 8 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Category: sides, instant pot
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern
Did you love this Yellow Rice? Leave me a comment! 🙂
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9619120/
- https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/rice/#:~:text=The%20average%20GI%20for%20brown,risk%20for%20type%202%20diabetes.
