Heated the last couple up for lunch, my daughter had already claimed all the tomato and mozzarella ones,so it was spinach and mozzarella for us…
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Okay, and @Grey_Devil - I tried the Kenji recipe the day I posted this and it was great. I’m trying the one from Manngchi tonight…
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Today’s air fryer experiment: air fryer asparagus! I call it a success. 
Green asparagus brushed with oil, cooked six minutes in 200 C. Served with bits of fried bacon and pan-fried mushrooms.
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You know how they say that brown rice has a “nutty” flavor? I never really thought it did. I mean, I’ve been eating brown rice since the 1970s, I like it, it tastes like brown rice, brown rice is good, but not particularly nutty or even remarkably flavorful.
But to my surprise, my most recent purchase of brown rice really does taste nutty! It is, in fact, delicious. It’s the same brand/type I usually buy—Lundberg organic long grain brown rice, in bulk from my co-op.
Was it a particularly good growing season? Could I be experiencing some weird after-effect of Covid-19, i.e., rather than losing a sense of taste/smell, gaining a better sense of taste for one particular thing?
I don’t really expect anyone here to have the answer, but tell me, do you normally think that brown rice tastes “nutty”?
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We regularly use Japanese short-grain brown rice and I would say it has a nutty flavor. The key is not overcooking it/using too much water. I’ve had it where it’s almost flavorless at a restaurant. But at home it’s always a little nutty. Just like me. 
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I regularly buy black rice, and that has a more pronounced nutty flavor. I don’t make it often but i love it
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Interesting! I wonder if it has to do with age? I recently had a similar experience with garbanzo beans from Rancho Gordo. I’ve made garbanzo beans from dry over the years, but with these new beans, they were so much better in flavor. Like, by a mile, it was impressive. I know they pick strains intentionally, but I also believe they are shipped sooner after to being grown than grocery store beans.
Is it possible that this fantastic brown rice was just newer?
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I use1/2 cup uncooked rice to 1 cup water, in a rice/grain cooker that turns off once the water is absorbed…so I think I haven’t beenovercooking it…
That’s why we love you 
Ooh, sounds good, I’m going to look for that!
I thought at first that you meant my age, lol! And I thought, “Gee, I always thought that CleverEmi was younger than me…”
Silly zfirphdn!
Age does improve some things, I can tell you, but I don’t think the ability to taste things is usually one of them 
Oh, I bet you’re right! That seems to me like a very reasonable explanation.
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If you have access to an Asian grocery store i would look for black rice there, should be cheaper than buying it at a regular store. For the same price i see a small bag at a regular store i can buy 2-3 times the amount at the local Korean grocery store.
Also i think the typical way to make it is to make mostly white rice and then add maybe 20% black rice. I use either 50-50 with white and black or all in on the black rice, usually will prefer to do 100% black rice.
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Consistency should be the check. If it’s got some firmness, a bit more than white rice since it still has the membrane, then that’s correct. If it’s at all soft, then it’s too wet.
Our rice cooker has a brown rice watermark and setting, so I have no idea what the right proportion of rice to water is. I just fill to the line…
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The server said the soup would be hot.
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I usually get a little of the nutty flavor you mention.
Like @CleverEmi , I’ve had a similar experience recently, but with a different food.
I’ve been eating a lot of salted, roasted mixed nuts lately. The kind with cashews, Brazil nuts, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, you know, the “good” stuff. And last week I got a batch that just tasted exceptionally good. The Brazil nuts had none of the bitterness they sometimes get, hazelnuts and almonds seemed almost tender/crisp. I’d never thought of almonds as tough before, but these ones made me realize the ones I’d been eating lately were, in fact, a bit tough.
Bought a new batch (different brand) this weekend, and it’s back to “regular.”
I wonder if the “tender” ones were fresher?
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Gonna have to remember to check for black rice next time I’m at HMart. We go there every month or so to get Kokuho Rose rice, which is the only rice the kid will eat. It’s wonderful rice, I love it too. I just hope she expands her palette soon.
We recently had jade/bamboo rice. It was ok. Very faint vegital/green flavor. I wonder if I bought some from an Asian grocery if it would taste different. The batch we had was from the fancy grocery.
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Is that Korean soup? (Looked like kimchi in front of it) I eat some pretty spicy food (though I’ve dialed it back some recently), but the soup I’ve had a couple of times at Korean restaurants is the hottest (spiciest) food I have ever eaten. Runner-up might be the chipotle sauce they had at the old El Azteca in Austin, or chicken vindaloo.
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Whenever poss, I cook our rice - and couscous - w/chicken juice. I often make dishes with canned chicky breast, and will use the liquid from that (the big cans provide about 1/2 cup) topped off w/water or more chicky broth if I’m making rice or couscous to go with. I save the juice for later if I’m not using it that night.
I’m really fond of wild rice mixtures; Rice Select brand is easily found around here. I have learned that it requires lotsa tarting up w/spices - butter and a pinch o’ salt ain’t enough - so I usually dump in loads of garlic and onion powder, along with Italian seasoning.
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Good eye!
Yes, Korean soup.
Hot and spicy hot, too.
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Dearest, darlingest Big Clive!
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Laurie said it was soft tofu with chicken.
Cheers.
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