Rice is the essence of Italian risotto. Traditional Taiwanese white rice is soft and soft. Compared with risotto rice that can maintain its shape after being cooked for a long time and retains its toughness even after absorbing the soup, the taste is quite different. The Hualien Farm said on the 23rd that it has developed the first local "Hualien 26" suitable for making stewed rice. In response to my country's annual demand for importing more than 100 tons of stewed rice from Italy, it is expected to significantly reduce the food mileage of 98%. Currently, three manufacturers have been authorized to mass-produce stewed rice under contract.
Mi Xin Bai Bai Pang Pang, the first local rice stew rice "Hualien No. 26"
Hualien Farm spent seven years breeding and developed the first local rice variety "Hualien No. 26" suitable for making stewed rice. Italian risotto is about being fragrant and chewy. The essence is that the rice grains should be able to absorb the soup, but at the same time, they should not be overcooked easily. Authentic Italian risotto, the rice used is usually imported from Italy.
"When you go to a competition, rice with white hearts will usually be knocked out." Yang Daji, director of the Hualien District Agricultural Improvement Field of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that Hualien No. 26 broke the conventional thinking of farmers because of the high proportion of "heart white" (chalk plasmid). ) is exactly what the risotto needs. Huang Jiaxing, associate researcher at the Hualien Agricultural Reform Farm, explained that the higher the protein content, the more pores there are to absorb the soup. Hualien No. 26 not only has a high percentage of protein content, but is also large, fat, and medium-amylose, so it is very resistant to cooking and difficult to digest. The paste can satisfy the requirements of stewing rice with intact rice grains, elasticity and juice absorption.
Since 2016, the Hualien Farm has used the Italian stew rice variety "Vialone nano" as the female parent, and crossed it with Taiwan's rice fever-resistant and stable-yielding "Taitung No. 30". It took seven years to carry out selection and mass production trials. , regional trials, pest and disease inspections, and will pass the review of new crop varieties next year (2023).
Huang Jiaxing said that it takes more than 15,000 kilometers to transport stewed rice from Italy to Keelung Port. Taiwan has imported 100 to 200 tons every year in the past ten years. If local stewed rice is used instead, the food mileage will be reduced to 278 kilometers, leaving only Less than 2%.
The rice is not powdery and has a special aroma. Local stewed rice performs better.
Wu Minzhong, manager of Xieyi Co., Ltd., which is engaged in the import business of Italian ingredients, pointed out that Italian risotto rice often has a "powdery" texture with an undercooked core, and the fragrance is not obvious, which is not palatable to Chinese people, but "Hualien No. 26" The rice heart is not floury, is still chewy after being cooked for a long time, and has a special aroma. Whether at home or abroad, it will be regarded as "delicious stewed rice".
Wu Minzhong said that in the future, in addition to supplying domestic demand for Italian risotto, he also hopes to promote it to neighboring countries such as Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and then enter Europe.
The method of making stewed rice is different from the Taiwanese custom of adding water and steaming. At the press conference, Huang Qiwei, the western chef of Farglory Yuelai Hotel, demonstrated cooking techniques, emphasizing that the secret to delicious stewed rice is to fry the rice directly without washing the rice; while frying, add stock and white wine in batches to simmer, and the rice will cook. Gradually gelatinizes and absorbs soup.
Huang Qiwei said that he recently compared "Hualien No. 26" with three other foreign stew rice varieties and found that the local variety is highly water-absorbent and can absorb the sauce while chewing the rice while its shape is complete and the center of the rice is flexible. The process emits a unique aroma and adds different layers to the stewed rice.
"Hualien No. 26" has a yield of about 4,500 to 5,500 kilograms per hectare. Yang Daji said that although the yield of the second phase of cropping is less, the amylose ratio is higher. It was planted in a small area last year and supplied to some restaurants, but demand currently exceeds supply. The technology has been transferred to two Western-style food ingredients suppliers, Xieyi and Liancai, as well as the local Fuli Township Farmers Association. The manufacturers will cooperate with farmers in the form of contracts.
People who want to buy, according to the Central News Agency, Zhang Suhua, the director-general of the Fuli Farmers Association, said that they can contact the Fuli Farmers Association after mass production and harvest at the end of the year.
Source: Environmental Information Center
