What is black sushi rice?

Hello all!

It has been a while since our last blog update as we have been very busy here at Taiko, creating some delicious new products for you all to enjoy.
Pop down to your nearest Waitrose and you might just find our Black Rice & Chia Seed Salmon Sushi or Quinoa & Black Rice Vegetable Sushi.

Yes, you’re probably thinking, what on earth is black rice?

Actually, black rice has been around for an awfully long time but hasn’t always been accessible as it was considered a luxury, only for the wealthy, such as the Emperor of Ancient China. Normal working class or poor people were not allowed to produce or have access to black rice, which is why it is also known as ‘forbidden rice’.

Makes us feel lucky to be able to pop down to our local Waitrose and enjoy sushi with ‘forbidden rice’ right?

For all of you gluten tolerant sushi lovers, black rice is your solution as it is totally gluten free. It isn’t just for those of you who are gluten tolerant though as we wanted to create healthy, tasty sushi and bentos for everyone. So black rice is a key ingredient that is absolutely packed full of goodness! We could go on forever about all of the weird and wonderful properties of black rice but we’ll cut it down to just a few amazing facts.

When you try black rice, you’ll taste a slight nutty flavour, which is similar to brown rice. You can also tell from its texture that it is full of fibre which helps maintain a healthy gut so for all of you who struggle a bit, if you know what I mean…. it’s the perfect solution and will help prevent constipation.

Black rice also has most of the nutrients we need, which are all quite hard to find in just one product. These include Vitamin E (hurray to happy skin, hair, nails, eyes and a healthy immune system!), Vitamin B1 (Thiamine), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), folic acid and minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. Amazing right? We knew we had to have it as a key ingredient when we found out about all of its great properties.

If you’re looking to boost your anti-oxidants, black rice is perfect for you. It’s high level of the anthocyanin antioxidant helps to prevent heart disease, protects against cancer, and reduces inflammation. It also helps to slow down the absorption of simple sugars, which helps to prevent diabetes.

So as you can see, black rice is the perfect ingredient for anyone from the gluten tolerant to the constipated to those who just want to feed their bodies with nothing but good stuff! Try it in our new sushi packs and give us some feedback. We’d love to hear from you!

All the best, Team Taiko x