Amazing Grains

The following is excerpted from A Man in the Kitchen by Warren S. Wepman. This material is based on Michio Kushi's standard macrobiotic diet and the advice given should be tempered with that in mind

What is unique and different about grains that makes them amazing? Primarily, it is that grains are both the seed and the fruit of grass plants, and as such represent both the beginning and the end of the growing cycle. They are the most advanced form of plant life to have evolved on this planet.

The macrobiotic diet includes all of the cereal grains. It is recommended that you eat whole cereal grain every day. Fifty to sixty percent of dietary intake each day should be in the form of such grains. Whole grains are those cereals that have been left intact and that have not been processed. The edible part of all grains is comprised of three parts: the bran, the germ and the endosperm.

The bran is the shiny outer skin. It consists mainly of cellulose, an indigestible fiber that cleanses the digestive system. It is now recognized that fiber is needed to keep the body in good order. It scrubs the intestines clean as it passes through. The bulk provided by whole grains from which this bran has not been removed is filling and gives one a feeling of satisfaction.

The germ is the embryo of the grain. It is rich in protein and oil. It contains the nascent plant and all of the potential energy of life. The endosperm makes up the bulk of the grain and nourishes the seed when it is planted. It is mainly starch.

In the western part of the world the use of wheat predominates, but barley, oats, rye, millet, buckwheat and rice are regularly included in the traditional diets of the people who inhabit Europe and the Near East. In the Far East, in China, Burma, Tibet and Japan, rice is the staple grain, but the others mentioned are also well known and used frequently.

In the American hemisphere the indigenous grain was maize or corn. Also from the western continents is a local grain called quinoa (pronounced: keen-wa) found in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. I am told that the Spanish Conquistadors attempted to eradicate this grain as it was the basis of the local civilization that they tried to subjugate and destroy.

Amaranth and teff are also whole cereal grains, as are kamut and spelt, which are relatives of wheat. Bread made from wheat has been called the staff of life, and is the grain described in most of the literature and recipes of modem civilization. Because it, of all the grains, has a large gluten component, it is usually ground into a flour and baked into breads, cakes, crackers or cookies, or made into pasta or couscous.

Rice is the most balanced of the grains. It comes in many varieties: short grain, medium grain, and long grain. It also has strains called sweet rice and basmati rice (from India) to name a few others. Wild rice is really the seed of another grass, and only distantly related to the other rices mentioned. It is indigenous to the North American continent, while the origin of the other rices is said to be from the east or India. However, they all grow well here and most of the rice available to us is grown in the United States.

While wheat does not have an outer hull that needs to be milled off and can be cooked just as it grows on the stalk, rice grains and some of the other grains are protected by an inedible outer hull that must be removed. Before that hull is removed rice can be stored almost indefinitely. It is told that grains of rice were found in the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh, King Tut, when it was opened by archaeologists in the 1920s. This rice was over 4,000 years old, but when it was planted it sprouted, demonstrating the strength of the grain.

Brown rice makes up the central part of a macrobiotic diet recommended to create, support and sustain a healthy body. Brown rice is a grain that has had only the inedible outer hull removed, and has not been further polished. It differs from white rice, which is the same grain, but from which the bran and germ have been removed by polishing. The bran and germ are important parts of the rice cereal. What remains when it is polished off is the starch. When some one tells you that “rice is fattening” this is strictly true of polished, white rice, which is only the starchy part of the grain. With the fiber and germ intact brown rice is not fattening. In fact the fiber scours the bowels and intestines clean, while the rice germ provides nourishment.

Grains supply the body with protein. The Standard American Diet (SAD) contains at least 5 times the amount of protein that is required to maintain one's body. The emphasis on meat as the principle food is unnecessary in order to feed oneself. Millions of people throughout the world today sustain a healthy life eating a minimum of meat, poultry or dairy. This has been true for countless generations in the past.

Cereals have been the staple food of mankind from earliest days. In almost all cultures cereal grains have been the principle food. Wild forms of wheat and barley have been around for 50,000 years on the planet. They are known to have been cultivated in the lower Nile regions as early as 15, 000 years ago. In North America the native cultures ground wild cereal grains as long ago as 10,000 B. C. Corn (maize) was probably cultivated as tong as 9,000 years ago or earlier. In the Middle East, grains were cultivated as far back as 9,000 B.C. Rice and millet were grown by the Chinese at least 7,000 or 8,000 years ago.

The use of cereal grains is interwoven into the very matrix of civilization. It is conjectured that the methods developed by early man to record and inventory his stores of grain led to the invention of writing. The evolution from counting, that is number processing, to the development of the written word is the same as the evolution from number processing to word processing in modern computer technology.

Grains are natural human food. The upright nature of the grasses producing edible grains is the final stage of development in the plant kingdom. This parallels the change to the upright posture of man, the highest form of animal life on the earth.

According to George Ohsawa the idea of a principal food is one of the most fundamental discoveries of man, fully as significant as the discovery of fire. In macrobiotic theory grain is that principal food.

Grain is simple to make. It is satisfying and sticks to your ribs. Here are some basic suggestions about cooking grains.

I have almost always cooked the larger grains, such as rice, barley, rye and wheat as whole grains in a pressure cooker. When we first began macrobiotics, we were instructed that unless grain was cooked under pressure it was not completely cooked. However, on reflection, I realize that rice was cooked for millennia without the benefit of a pressure cooker, which has to be a relatively modern addition to the cookware of the world. I am sure that there are millions of people who cook their grains in a covered pot without the benefit of a pressure cooker. However, pressure cooking rice (almost daily) is my method of choice.

All organic grains (as well as beans) need to be carefully sorted (I call this looking the grain) to find and remove stones, hulls, unhulled grains and other foreign matter. To do so place a portion of the grain on a white dinner plate or other contrasting surface and sort though the grains.

When all of the foreign matter has been eliminated, rinse the grain. I put it in the pot as I sort it out and then fill the pot with water. I stir the grain and then pour off the water. The extra hulls and other lighter matter that rises to the top can be poured off and discarded as well. I then catch the grains in a strainer as I pour off the rest of the water, draining the grain completely. You will be surprised at the amount of dust that is washed off. If the grain is freshly hulled, for rice particularly, only one rinse will be sufficient. If the rice has been on the shelf for some time, then it may be necessary to rinse it several times, as the grain will have oxidized a little bit and be dustier.

Measuring the water is important also. You will note that many recipes call for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of water per cup of grain. The appropriate amount of water will vary with climatic conditions and from day to day. You will get a feel for the humidity as your practice with grain cookery deepens. Start with 1 1/2 cups of water to 1 cup of grain. If the resultant dish is too soggy for your taste, reduce the amount of water in the next pot you cook.

However, I have developed a better measuring device that works for me. I suggest you try it. Start by measuring as suggested above. When the surface of the grain is smooth in the pot, put your index finger into the water so that the tip of the finger itself (not your nail if is longer than the finger, because that changes length from time to time) touches the surface of the rice under the water. Note where the water comes to on the finger. For me this is at about the line that marks the first flange of the index digit After you have cooked the grain, if the consistency is right that's where the water should be and you don't have to use a measuring cup to measure your water again. If the grain is scorched or too dark or hard at the bottom, put in more water the next time you make a pot of grain. Again note the point to which the top of the water comes on your finger when the tip of the finger touches the grain. Continue from pot of grain to pot of grain until you can measure without a measuring cup, but only by using the measuring device that you carry with you at all times. Note, however, that more water is needed for cooking in a regular pot than is needed for cooking in a pressure cooker, as some of the water will steam out.

This method actually works for 2 cups of grain or 10 cups of grain. The time of cooking is also important. When I first prepared grain, I did so at my home, which was at or about sea level. Forty-five (45) minutes after it came up to pressure in the pressure cooker or came to a boil in the covered pot was just the right time for the grain to cook. When I moved to the mountains of North Carolina and cooked grain at 3, 000 feet above sea level, I found that not only did it take longer for the water to come to a boil but also that I had to cook the grain for fifty (50) minutes after it came up to pressure, or came to a boil, in order for the grain to be thoroughly cooked. Finally, I do not add the salt until the water has come to a boil. In this way the water, unsalted, is allowed to heat to the boiling point. Salted water boils at a different temperature.

Current literature, in mainstream publications, recently has recommended against high carbohydrate dishes, suggesting that they are hard to digest. The high carbohydrate foods eaten today in the standard modern diet are mostly short chain carbohydrates, such as processed grains like white rice, breads, cookies and crackers. These may be harder to digest than whole grains, which are long chain carbohydrate foods.

However, some people may be experiencing difficulty digesting whole grains as well. Experience has shown that soaking whole grains for 6 to 8 hours or longer before cooking makes them more easily digestible.

Therefore, when you can plan ahead, soak your rice, wheat, barley and other whole grains overnight, or all day long before cooking them, even in a pressure cooker. Just add the amount of water that you would add to cook them and let the grain soak in it.

Any of the many varieties of rice (short grain, medium grain, long grain, basmati, Golden Rose, white, etc.) can be eaten at any time, or they can be mixed and cooked together. However, it is recommended that long grain rice be cooked and served in the summer and in the hotter climates, short grain rice in the winter and far north, and that medium grain be eaten in the spring and fall.

Warren S. Wepman is a graduate of the Kushi Institute and a member of the Macrobiotic Educators' Association (MEA). He lives with his wife Marquita in Barnardsville, North Carolina and can be reached at 828/626-3782 (phone), at 828-626-3783 (fax), or by email: warrenwep@mindspring.com..

Last modified: 02/21/05