Wild Rice

Ontario·Easy·10 min

A sacred, nutty aquatic grass native to Northern Ontario and the Great Lakes, traditionally harvested by canoe with cedar knocking sticks, then fire-parched. Used in pilafs, stuffings and soups, central to Ojibwe food sovereignty and culture.

Wild rice, manoomin in Ojibwe, is a sacred aquatic grass native to Northern Ontario and the Great Lakes, technically a seed and not a true rice. It is traditionally harvested by canoe with cedar knocking sticks, then fire-parched to cure. Northern Ontario, the Thunder Bay and Lakehead region, is a heartland of wild-rice country, and the grain is central to Ojibwe food sovereignty and culture. Used in pilafs, stuffings and soups, it is one of the most distinctly North American ingredients, far more specifically Northern Ontario than the generic Prairie framing.

Long, dark, glossy grains with a deep nutty, earthy flavor and a satisfying chew, the smoke from the parching faintly there. Eaten in a pilaf with mushrooms, it is savory, textured and unlike any true rice.

Wild rice requires a long cook in plenty of water (often 45-60 minutes) until the grains split open and reveal their pale interior, the only way to tell it is done. The fire-parching it undergoes after harvest gives it its smoky, nutty flavor; the cooking rehydrates the parched grain. It is almost always combined with other ingredients, mushrooms, onions, butter, nuts, or game, because its strong flavor dominates a dish. It is rarely eaten plain.

Variations

A creamy version cooks it like risotto. A wild-rice soup cooks it in chicken stock with mushrooms.

On the Palate

Where Wild Rice sits in the Canadian flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 6

How it's made

6 steps · 10 min

1
3 min
Rinse 250g wild rice in cold water; drain.
2
4 min
Bring 1 litre salted water to a boil; add the wild rice.
3
25 min
Simmer 45-55 minutes until the grains split open and reveal their pale interior; drain any excess water.
Watch out
Simmer until the grains split open and show a pale interior — that split is the only reliable sign it's done, takes a good forty-five to fifty-five minutes.
4
8 min
In a pan, sauté 1 chopped onion and 200g sliced mushrooms in 40g butter 6 minutes.
5
6 min
Fold in the cooked wild rice, season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon.
6
4 min
Serve hot as a side, or cool for a salad.