Basmati vs Jasmine rice

[georgevan]

which is your favorite and why?

 

[Kathleen]

It depends on what I am making. If I want a drier/chewy rice, basmati. If I want a softer rice, jasmine.

 

[GinnyPNW]

They are 2 very different things. Each has its uses. I love the smell that fills the house when cooking a pot of Jasmine. But, Jasmine will turn to mush in things like Spanish rice. Do you remember who said, "Soggy rice, not so nice!" Yeah, me neither, but we still say it here!

And then there's short grain rice and brown rices and just plain long grain/enriched...

 

[pepperhead212]

Depends on what I'm using it for. I also think that the jasmine has even more flavor and aroma, but it does stick to itself. Basmati has a similar aroma, but not as strong, and for things where I don't want it to stick, that's where I use the basmati.

 

[blissful]

I use brown basmati and to us it smells like popcorn which we like. We both like it. I've never tried jasmine rice!

 

[thymeless]

I prefer basmati over jasmine but use both and others as well.

 

[Rascal]

I buy jasmine and cook with it. I buy 5kg at a time.
I make risotto with arborio though.

Russ

 

[taxlady]

The last time I had jasmine rice, it was brown jasmine rice and it was the 1970s. I found the flavour and scent extremely floral, perfumey. I just looked up jasmine rice on Wikipedia and jasmine rice is a scented rice, the same way that basmati is a scented rice. I always assumed that the scent had been added to the rice. I did not like it at all. I will have to give it a try, now, half a century later and see what I think. Of course, being me, I will need to find brown jasmine rice again. I have to wonder if the stuff I had back in the 1970s had had scent added.

So, I would have to say that I prefer basmati, but I only buy brown basmati. It has a lovely flavour and cooks up so easily. It's not as fast as white rice, but it is faster than other brown rice and I have on occasion accidentally cooked it as much as two hours too long and it was still fine. Okay, it was a little crusty on the bottom, but that is yummy and hard to achieve intentionally.

 

[pepperhead212]

I use brown basmati and to us it smells like popcorn which we like. We both like it. I've never tried jasmine rice!

I also use brown basmati, and one time I got 5 lbs of brown jasmine, and it tasted and smelled like the brown basmati, but was sticky, as the white is. Both are sort of nutty, and neither of the brown rices have the aroma that the white varieties have - good, but not the same.

I've also found parboiled basmati in Indian markets, but the aroma isn't quite as strong as the whites. And no parboiled jasmine yet.

 

[blissful]

Thanks @pepperhead212 I can see where brown basmati won't work for rolling vegetables into a rice roll w/seaweed. Brown jasmine might work better. I want to try it soon.

 

[taxlady]

Thanks @pepperhead212 I can see where brown basmati won't work for rolling vegetables into a rice roll w/seaweed. Brown jasmine might work better. I want to try it soon.

Can you find brown sushi rice? I think that or some other brown short grain rice would work better.

 

[taxlady]

I find the aroma in brown basmati stronger than in white basmati. I worked with a women from India for a while. We were discussing food and she said that the best rice came from India. I said, "Yes, I know, basmati. I have some that is even better." She was startled, so I brought her a small bag of brown basmati. She tried it and when she came to work, she said I was right. Both she and her husband liked it even better than white basmati.

 

[Badjak]

I generally prefer Jasmine and with some care it makes a very good nasi goreng or other fried rice.
I like basmati as well

 

[medtran49]

We use both. Jasmine with Asian dishes and Basmati with Indian dishes generally.

 

[georgevan]

The last time I had jasmine rice, it was brown jasmine rice and it was the 1970s. I found the flavour and scent extremely floral, perfumey. I just looked up jasmine rice on Wikipedia and jasmine rice is a scented rice, the same way that basmati is a scented rice. I always assumed that the scent had been added to the rice. I did not like it at all. I will have to give it a try, now, half a century later and see what I think. Of course, being me, I will need to find brown jasmine rice again. I have to wonder if the stuff I had back in the 1970s had had scent added.

So, I would have to say that I prefer basmati, but I only buy brown basmati. It has a lovely flavour and cooks up so easily. It's not as fast as white rice, but it is faster than other brown rice and I have on occasion accidentally cooked it as much as two hours too long and it was still fine. Okay, it was a little crusty on the bottom, but that is yummy and hard to achieve intentionally.

You assumed the scent had been added. Was it?

 

[taxlady]

You assumed the scent had been added. Was it?

I have no way of finding out now, if it was real jasmine rice or some brown rice with a scent added. I don't remember what store I bought it at (probably a health food store). I know I was living in Montréal at the time, but I don't remember if it was the first apartment I lived in or the second apartment. It was a very long time ago.

 

[dragnlaw]

taxy, I don't think the rice(s) were scented. I know that back in the 70's people thought they were. I believe that this was because people were only just beginning to experiment with different foods and cultures. They could not quite believe the scents they were smelling was natural and so assumed, wrongly, that it was added.

But fi you think about it, it doesn't make sense. The effort to scent Jasmine or Basmati, which only had a market with some of the Asian communities, would have been too much. Most of the peoples here and Europe used what is commonly called 'white rice'.

I've not been able to find any references to it actually happening.

 

[taxlady]

taxy, I don't think the rice(s) were scented. I know that back in the 70's people thought they were. I believe that this was because people were only just beginning to experiment with different foods and cultures. They could not quite believe the scents they were smelling was natural and so assumed, wrongly, that it was added.

But fi you think about it, it doesn't make sense. The effort to scent Jasmine or Basmati, which only had a market with some of the Asian communities, would have been too much. Most of the peoples here and Europe used what is commonly called 'white rice'.

I've not been able to find any references to it actually happening.

This wasn't being marketed to the ethnic market. This was being marketed to hippies. It really wouldn't surprise me if they added scent to the batches being sold to hippies. Lots of stuff in health food stores was questionable back then, e.g., so-called organic vegis were just regular veg sold at an inflated price. So-called organic peanut butter, had extra oil added to the top to make it look "more natural". Both of those things and more were discovered and reported on by some Canadian TV network, probably CBC, maybe on Marketplace.

What does jasmine rice smell like? Does it smell perfumy, like flowers? Basmati smells nothing like that.

 

[dragnlaw]

Sense of smell, to me, is quite subjective.
Yes, Jasmine has a more 'spring-like' smell, described as flowery.
Basmati is much more subtle, some say 'nutty' but the flowery smell is still there. I really don't know how to describe it.

One of my son's prefers plain short grain rice with 'once in a while' Basmati thrown in. But after 2 or 3 meals he's had enough. Same with Jasmine but even less 'once in a while'!

Once cooked and served with a meal, although I can tell the difference with Basmati and plain - it doesn't matter too much. Jasmine is always (to me) noticeable - I don't really have it all that often. Did just recently buy a small bag so will be having it more often for now. Then the next bag I buy... who knows what I will get.

 

[jennyema]

which is your favorite and why?

I like the both. They taste and smell quite different. I use basmati mostly for Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. Jasmine for eastern asian things.

Arborio for risotto. Carolina long grain for most other things.