Gluten Free Rice: Lotus Foods Organic Forbidden Rice - Product Review #57

Gluten Free Rice: Lotus Foods Organic Forbidden Rice

PRODUCT NAME:                      Bhutanese Red Rice

BRAND:                                     Lotus Foods

COST:                                       $4.49

SIZE:                                         15oz

COST PER OZ:                           $0.30/oz

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:         NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:          N/A

ORGANIC:                                  YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:          QAI

VEGAN:                                      YES

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:            UNKNOWN

LOCATION OF FACILITY:            Bhutan

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging. We cannot verify the accuracy of this information. For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.

REVIEW:
Lotus Foods has rice called Organic Forbidden Rice. I’m not quite sure what exactly makes it forbidden, but just because it’s called forbidden, I know I want to eat it. I was surprised to see that this forbidden rice is a black rice. Lotus Foods calls it a medium-size heirloom rice. If you remember from my review earlier this week, heirloom rice natural rice that is grown from indigenous seed stock that is often ancient and hasn’t been hybridized or genetically engineered.

Like the Bhutanese Red Rice from earlier this week, this Forbidden rice is also very good for you. Lotus Foods proudly boasts that this organic rice is high in anthocyanins, a class of flavanoid antioxidants, as well as iron. In fact, they have found a study that shows that a spoonful of black rice has as many antioxidants as a spoonful of fresh blueberries. When cooked, 10 spoonfuls have the same equivalent.

When we first opened up this bag of rice, the first thing I noticed is that it is extremely fragrant. The smell is very similar to dried tea leaves. This rice is also very easy to cook. The package advertises a cooking time of 30 minutes. We decided to go with the set it and forget it way of cooking using our handy rice cooker. We had a little bean curd left over and decided to toss that into the pot with this rice. The final product was a delicious rice and bean curd mix. This rice was also surprisingly soft. It was just as soft as the Bhutanese Red rice from earlier in the week. I’m not sure if it was the bean curd that we cooked this rice with, but we sensed a hint of sweetness and nuttiness to this rice that was very pleasant.

If you are looking for a high quality rice that tastes great, is good for you, and is “forbidden”, this is the rice for you. At $0.30/oz or $0.50/serving, it’s a reasonable price to pay for a Forbidden rice.

Taste: Great nutty flavor with a hint of sweetness, although the sweetness might be from the bean curd we cooked with this rice. This rice also has great texture, nice and soft, but firm enough to hold its shape.

Labeling: Similar packaging to the Bhutanese Red Rice we had earlier in the week, but this rice is certified organic, unlike the last. There is also a nice story about this rice on the back, sans the 1,000 year old glacier water.

Packaging: Air sealed plastic packaging. The amount contained in the package is good for about 5 big eaters.

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RATING:
Texture:           5
Taste:               5
Value:              3
OVERALL:        4.3

Reviewed 012511 by Calvin C.