Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Tamaki Haiga - White Rice Without The Guilt
Rice Lovers Must Try This!

Tamaki Haiga is polished but still has the germ.

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Tamaki Haiga
Yesterday my girlfriend brought over a cup of white (actually tan), short-grain Tamaki Haiga rice for me to try. The kernels were small and delicate but nothing out of the ordinary. But was I in for a big surprise!

Haiga means "germ" in Japanese. It turns out that Tamaki Haigi is milled in a very special way that removes the heavy outer coating of the rice but maintains the germ where lots of the good stuff resides. Lets face it, many of us eat brown rice out of guilt because we know it's better for us than white rice. Even Andrew Weil admitted in a conference that he doesn't like brown rice. But to be able to eat something as delicious as white rice and know it still has the germ that provides vitamins B1, B2, B6, vitamin E, fiber, and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) - well that's almost too good to be true! 

It's actually better than white rice because it tastes a little nutty and is a little sticky - just the way I love it. And it cooks much faster than brown rice. I used the white rice setting in my rice maker and it came out perfectly. And your kids will love it too - I know it's a little hard sometimes to get them to eat brown rice. 

Where to Buy
You can find this in most Asian grocery stores. If you don't have an Asian grocery store nearby, you can always get it on Amazon. I just ordered a 5 pound bag for less than $20. 

California grown Tamaki Haiga
found on Amazon

I'm still a little gun shy about buying too many food products from Japan given the residual contamination after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. I still drink green tea from Japan every day so I don't want to push it. This brand of Tamaki Haiga is grown in Northern California's Sacramento valley so I feel good about that. 

I just had to share this with you right away - I hope you get a chance to try it. 

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Does it contain any gluten? Thankyou for sharing :-)

Dr. Joanne L. Mumola Williams said...

All rice is gluten free unless it is milled in a factory that processes wheat which can cause some cross contamination. I doubt that is the case in a specialty rice such as this.
Joanne

Roz said...

I finally ordered this rice from Amazon. Can't wait to try it. We eat rice two to three times a week. Thank you for the recommendation!

Dr. Joanne L. Mumola Williams said...

You're welcome Roz. We are serving some tonight for some dinner guests.
Enjoy!
Joanne

Unknown said...

really want to taste this.