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[Narcisa Flierl]

Wild rice is a source of cultural pride in Minnesota where I'm from. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation about it online and in print. It's time I had a guide on here about one of the most important ingredient of my region, so, I'm going to try and answer all the questions I can about it.

And there's lots of questions: Is it actually wild? Which wild rice is the best to buy? Is there a difference between expensive hand-harvested wild rice and cultivated? What about parched, cultivated wild rice? Gas parched? Lake rice? River rice? How much water do you add?

All the terms and info are confusing. My goal here is to help you understand the differences between various types of wild rice, and to dispel as many culinary myths about it in the process as possible.

This post has nothing to do with harvesting your own wild rice. I still haven't been ricing myself. If you're interested in learning about harvesting your own I recommend Sam Thayer's first book: The Foragers Harvest.

This is the biggest thing to know, and by far the most confusing, so be patient and stay with me here. If you go to the store, more than likely, you'll see bags of black, shiny wild rice for sale. If you go online, and search for wild rice, things get more complicated.

There's hand harvested wood parched wild rice, black wild rice, air-boat harvested gas-parched lake rice, cultivated wood-parched wild rice, and regular cultivated wild rice. Oh, and there's also fancy, roll cut, soup grade, quick-cooking, rice in a can (no, just no) and on and on.

Why is wild rice black? The black wild rice (often called cultivated, commodity, or black paddy rice) you commonly see in stores is from the same plant (Zizania aquatica) that will produce the other more expensive wild rice, the difference comes in how the wild rice is processed.

By contrast, the other wild rice (which could go by any of the above names) isn't left wet, it's dried, then parched by toasting over a fire. Traditionally the heat source was a wood fire (wood-parched) but gas parching has become common and has a similar effect on the rice, but a slightly less interesting flavor.

In other countries like Italy, special food products like wild rice are regulated for their quality and processes. In the United States, we don't have any systems like that, so it's really up to the buyer to do their homework when figuring out which wild rice to by.

All of this makes the simple question of where to buy wild rice a confusing one. I'm lucky, because there's lots of good wild rice for sale near me, but, depending on where you live, you might not be so lucky, so I'm including a few pieces of advice I think are really helpful here.

The good stuff is expensive, typically double what the black wild rice will sell for. When in doubt, buy the expensive stuff. Expect to pay anywhere from 12$-20$ a pound. Confusingly, some cultivated rice can be sold for nearly as much as the low end of the spectrum here.

You can usually see the differences between types of wild rice easily just by looking at them. Black paddy wild rice is jet black and shiny, while hand-harvested manoomin will have grains of uneven color, with a matte finish.

Exactly what it sounds like. Soup grade wild rice is broken, cut, or in pieces so it can be added directly to soup while it cooks. As the cut grains differ in size, they'll also absorb water at a different rate. This is not for cooking on the stove top like typical wild rice, it will be mushy.

Natural, long grains of wild rice. If the rice is blackened wild rice, it can take an hour to cook. Basically this indicates high-end wild rice that doesn't have broken particles in it that can absorb water at different rates.

Roll cut, at least to me, is basically the same thing as quick cooking. The rice is cut using a machine to cut down on the cooking time. It's best for soup, stuffing, or bread and will cook up mushy on the stove top.

Quick cooking is complicated. Confusingly, good, high quality wild rice is sometimes labeled as "quick cook" wild rice, like this example. Then you have others labeled quick cook that are obviously blackened rice, like this. So, when in doubt, use the price, visual, and terminology examples I've mentioned here, and you should be able to sniff out the real McCoy.

Here's a few of my favorite sellers. When in doubt, purchase the most expensive type a supplier offers. These have been fluctuating, if you know good sources, please comment so I can keep it up to date.

Cooking gets confusing depending on who you ask, and what type of wild rice you're cooking. For example, the water to wild rice ratio can vary drastically depending on who is telling you how to cook it.

One company I know of recommends boiling all their rice, lake rice, parched rice, or black paddy rice in the same ratio of water (nearly 1:6) which is crazy talk, and wasteful since you'll inevitably end up pouring some of the cooking liquid down the drain (on a side note, the cooking liquid is delicious and I used to catch my line cooks drinking it!).

Black paddy rice is very different, generally using a ratio of 1:4, and that translates to a different texture and taste, but even more importantly, (and something I've never heard any other author speak of) post-cooking weight.

Natural wild rice is a different world. The real deal cooks up light as a feather with a delicate flavor, making it delicious for literally any meal of the day. Real wild rice simply cooked and slathered with melted butter and drizzled with maple syrup is a breakfast of the gods.

Part of why the real McCoy is so good is the quick-drying and parching process that gives it the lighter flavor and shorter cooking time, but also, you're not eating water weight, so it's literally lighter to eat.

My partner and I are making our first trip to Minneapolis from Iowa in early August. I'm really excited to pick up some wild rice, and willing to travel a few hours during our week long stay to get some! Forager's Harvest is Sam Thayer's seasonally foraged wild rice - is that right? Sounds like we may be just a few weeks early, but wanted to confirm.

Otherwise, I also wanted to ask if wild rice has a suggested shelf life. I'm hoping to pick up a substantial amount, but I don't want to overdo it. Thanks so much! Looking forward to finally trying some of the good stuff.

Hey John welcome to town. You'll want to call gas stations and gift shops in the area and ask if they sell parched wild rice. Make sure to read this article so you understand the differences as even people who sell the rice may not understand the differences.

Great article, wish I had found it earlier - but hopefully I still made a good purchase. Our monthly tribal newsletter (Anishinabe, Adawe, Ottawa of Oklahoma) included a recipe for tradition berry rice featuring minomin (our spelling is different, but phonetically very similar to Chippewa/Ojibwe), dried cranberries and real maple syrup. I want to use as traditional ingredients as possible - it was a challenge to find the "right" rice, and to know which "words" to look for in descriptions. I found Spirit Lake Native Farms in Minnesota who sell lake harvested, wood fire parched wild rice. It is owned by a member of the Fond Du lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Have you any experience with this producer? They also sell wood fired maple syrup. I just received the items in the mail today and cannot wait to try the recipe. I will be sure to pass along your article! Miigwech!

Hi, Alan! Great article. Looking forward to trying your recipes. I have purchased Hand Harvested Wood Parched Wild Rice from a couple I've met on one of my mushroom hunts here in MN, they harvest their own. First time purchase, and I didn't have an idea what type of questions to ask when I bought the rice. I have learned so much from reading your article, now I know what to look for when buying wild rice. Thank you!

I came across your post discussing wild rice and the cultivated and other varieties. I was gifted a bag of wild rice and told it was for use in breads. I make a lot of bread and many of the recipes that I have consulted speak to cooking the wild rice first. You stated in your post that soup/bread wild rice (I am assuming this might be a soup rice as it is very broken) can get mushy when cooked. How do I incorporate wild rice into bread? Does it need to be cooked first, what suggestions or advice would you have?

Yes the rice needs to be cooked first, no matter what variety of wild rice you use. Wild rice can also be used as a flour, but make sure not to include more than 30% of the total volume of flour, and I typically hydrate it beforehand using the soaker method. I have a recipe for wild rice flour sourdough in my book.

Thank you for responding. I cannot seem to find any wild rice that states it curls. Could you give me a search term or a recommendation? Also, I would love to see this recipe "Wild Rice with black walnuts and creeping charlie". I did not see it and apologize if it is here somewhere.

You bet. So, wild rice that curls into a c after cooking or "curly worm stage" as we used to call it in the kitchen is not a recognized attribute of wild rice you'll see described anywhere or with any brand to my knowledge. ANY of the wood parched varieties I've listed here will cook like you want them to. The only ones that won't are black paddy rice varieties.

Fantastic article, super informative. I'm looking forward to receiving and cooking my Moose Lake wild rice (ordered the maple syrup too for good measure). Much appreciated for the insight on how/what to buy, as well as cooking tips. I was woefully under-informed.

Alan, you are not kidding this is confusing. Are you familiar with Moose Lake brand Wild Rice? mooselakewildrice.com What do you think? I checked out your recommendation of Great Lakes Wild Rice - all they are offering is "cultivated", though wood parched. Also wanted to let you know about a nutcracker I use for hickory nuts - a 1901 CE Potter nutcracker. It handles black walnut as well, though butternuts are usually too long for it to fit into the chamber, if that's what you'd call it.....I got mine on ebay for about 100. There are a dozen listed right now. Thank you or bringing up the AI topic. I recently visited Amazon to look for a canning/preserving book I don't have, and my impression of the search results was "what is all this junk?". Now I get it, and I am appalled! Love your book, your posts and your perseverance to extract a flavor and would like to know where to get an awesome foragerchef sweatshirt. A few years back, I had the privilege to forage for 3 noma alumni - all at the same restaurant here in CT. It was about the same time I discovered you - you were an inspiration then, and continue to be. Keep up the great work!

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