Red Cargo rice is a type of non-

glutinous Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated animals, or domesticated plants. These traits were identified by Charles Darwin in '' The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication. ...

long grain rice that is similar to

brown rice Brown rice is a whole grain rice with the inedible outer Rice hulls, hull removed. This kind of rice sheds its outer hull or husk but the bran and germ layer remain on, constituting the brown or tan colour of rice. White rice is the same grain w ...

, in that it is unpolished. The color of the bran is red, purple, or maroon. The husks of the rice grains are removed during the milling process, retaining all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals intact in the

bran Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the hard outer layers of Cereal, cereal grain. It consists of the combined aleurone and pericarp. Corn (maize) bran also includes the pedicel (tip cap). Along with cereal germ, germ, it is an integral pa ...

layer and in the

germ Germ or germs may refer to: Science * Germ (microorganism), an informal word for a pathogen * Germ cell, cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually * Germ layer, a primary layer of cells that forms during embry ...

Health and nutritional benefits

Red rice is a good source of

thiamin Thiamine, also known as thiamin and vitamin B1, is a vitamin, an essential micronutrient, that cannot be made in the body. It is found in food and commercially synthesized to be a dietary supplement or medication. Phosphorylated forms of thia ...

( vitamin B₁),

riboflavin Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is a vitamin found in food and sold as a dietary supplement. It is essential to the formation of two major coenzymes, flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. These coenzymes are involved in ...

( vitamin B₂),

fibre Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

. The flavor of cooked red cargo rice is generally more sweet and nutty, and the texture is more chewy than standard white polished rice. Red rice takes longer to cook than white rice, but not as long as brown rice. Soaking the rice in water for at least 30 minutes before cooking produces a softer texture.

History

The term "cargo" originates from the idea that this type of rice is exported/transported by ship/sea in bulk to the importers/distributors who then package the rice in small 1 kg bags for the market, unlike white rice which is usually pre-packed by exporters into 5, 10 or 25 kg bags.

References

Rice varieties {{ingredient-stub