Missouri Rice

We grew up eating a lot of rice in South America but I didn’t expect rice to be an important Missouri crop.

According to Missouri’s 2016 Agriculture Economic Impact Report, rice is the sixth largest Missouri grown agricultural crop, almost as much of an accident as how rice came to North America.

It began in 1885, when a storm-battered ship, sailing from Madagascar, limped into the Charles Towne, SC, harbor. Town citizens helped to repair the ship. To repay their kindness, the ship’s captain made a gift of a small quantity of “Golden Seed Rice.”

That’s the story Missouri’s Rice Council likes to tell. The council is a lobbying group for Missouri rice farmers and a charter member of the U S Rice Producers Association, an association representing rice farmers in Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, California and Louisiana.

Long grain rice has been grown in Missouri for almost a hundred years. The first rice field in was located west of Dexter. In 2015, 212,000 acres of rice were grown in the southeast Missouri counties. This part of Missouri provides more than 780 million pounds of rice valued at $160 million dollars. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service and the Missouri Department of Agriculture, Missouri is ranked fourth in rice acres harvested among the top ten states.

Missouri’s Crop Resource Guide notes rice yields have increased over 62 pounds per acre per year. At the same time, the pounds of fertilizer used to produce that rice has decreased.

“This double efficiency of increasing yields and decreasing input simultaneously sustains profits and environmental quality.”

One of my friends has every imaginable gadget to make rice but that’s not necessary. The key to making fluffy rice is a little butter and cooking it on low.

How to Cook Basic Rice

1 cup rice

2 cups water

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter

1 medium minced yellow onion (optional)

Cook in saucepan until boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer on low. Stir a couple of times to mix. Cook about 15 minutes until liquid is gone.

If rice is not tender or if water is not absorbed, replace lid and cook 2-4 more minutes. Do not cook until bone dry unless you plan to immediately remove from pan. If you leave it in the pan to cool, it will continue cooking and burn.

Charlotte’s Rice Alterations

The basic rice recipe can easily be changed by altering what liquid you use. If I am making a chicken dish, I use chicken stock. For fish, I like the vegetable stock and so forth.

For a fancy twist, substitute 1 cup of wine with a cup of stock.

1 cup rice

2 cups liquid – vegetable, beef or chicken stock,  to match protein being served

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter

1 medium minced yellow onion

For color, add minced green peppers and tomatoes a couple of minutes before the rice is fully cooked. Cooked rice freezes well.

Charlotte Ekker Wiggins is a beekeeper, gardener and sometimes cook. Published by El Dorado Springs Sun once in print and online with author’s permission. Copyright 2017, all rights reserved. This column may not be reprinted, republished or otherwise distributed without author’s permission. Contact Charlotte at gardeningcharlotte at gmail dot com.

EAT MORE RICE – Missouri Rice Council’s marketing of Missouri rice, made me chuckle when I saw this at the 2016 Missouri Governor’s Conference on Agriculture at Lake of the Ozarks.