Uncle Ben's Converted (Parboiled) Rice

[Inn Between]

 

I would like to find this product in Pattaya or any other "parboiled rice".  Parboiling is a way of removing the husk with the use of steam or hot water or soaking and is a compromise between white rice, where many nutrients are lost through the dry method of husk removal and brown rice, which retains the most nutrients. Parboiled rice is popular in America but I can't seem to find it here. 

[Rob13]

Have you tried kao grong. It's got the husks on

[Inn Between]

12 hours ago, Rob13 said:

Have you tried kao grong. It's got the husks on

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Yes, I always eat brown rice at home, and I suspect you're talking about the hull rather than a husk. The hull is inedible (at least for humans) so it's always removed. Brown rice retains most of the bran/fiber and the germ -- not the hull, but with white rice the germ and bran are mostly removed. White rice is said to have approximately 50% of brown rice's (khao glong) nutrition, but I prefer parboiled, which keeps about 80% of the possible nutrients.

 

 

[Rob13]

I always figured white rice is about as healthy as eating Wonder bread, plus the brown rice has more flavor. As for the par boiled stuff, I've never seen it, you may have to go to Amazon or somewhere online, probably pricey that though. Good luck with it.

[Oink]

Thailand produces on average 25 million tons from 40,000 rice varieties and you are looking for something else!

Gimie a break!

[NickJ]

All kinds of rices at Big C. Not just the ones in the huge sacks. They have red ones black ones. Brown ones. Found in much smaller bags. Should very easily be able to find a healthy one. 

[Inn Between]

3 hours ago, Oink said:

Thailand produces on average 25 million tons from 40,000 rice varieties and you are looking for something else!

Gimie a break!

 

Gosh, I'm very sorry. I can see now that it's outrageous of me to want the rice I grew up with sometimes. People should never want the things they grew up with when living abroad, and thanks to you, I now see the egregious error I made in posting such an offensive request. I haven't gone to church in decades, but you've made it clear that I should pray for my soul and ask God to Gimme a break.  Thank you. I'm humbled. 

[Oink]

Uncle Bens processed rice and cook in sauces are available in Tops in Central and Villa Mart in the Avenue.

Enjoy! May your God go with you.

[Rob13]

Riceberry is good. It's supposed to be healthier than regular rice.

[Inn Between]

16 minutes ago, Rob13 said:

Riceberry is good. It's supposed to be healthier than regular rice.

 

Thanks. The rice I usually buy here is a combination of jasmine brown mixed with red and purple rice. It's nice if not a bit expensive at 110 for a 2-kg bag, but I just get the craving sometimes for parboiled stuff like Uncle Ben's Converted.  

[Scotwight]

13 hours ago, Inn Between said:

 

Gosh, I'm very sorry. I can see now that it's outrageous of me to want the rice I grew up with sometimes. People should never want the things they grew up with when living abroad, and thanks to you, I now see the egregious error I made in posting such an offensive request. I haven't gone to church in decades, but you've made it clear that I should pray for my soul and ask God to Gimme a break.  Thank you. I'm humbled. 

It's like going into a Rolls Royce car rental agency and offering to rent a Ford Truck for more money than the Rolls.  You can see why the Brits would dislike Americans.  The same thing about Thais and rice.  If you would drop your ethnocentric goggles for a minute and try a variety of Thai Rice you would be happily surprised.  Or you could go to France and ask to buy Kraft cheese slices?  Or have a British friend go to an American Steak house and ask them to boil a prime beef steak well done.  Or go to Rome and ask them for Franco American spaghettios.  Or start a thread on where to buy  Vegemite.

 

[Inn Between]

12 hours ago, Oink said:

Uncle Bens processed rice and cook in sauces are available in Tops in Central and Villa Mart in the Avenue.

Enjoy! May your God go with you.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by processed -- it's all processed to some degree to get the hull off and perhaps more, depending on what the producer is after -- white vs brown for example. If you're talking about instant rice like Minute Rice, I'm not interested, but thanks for mentioning your sighting. If I'm near a Tops or similar store, I'll take a look.

[Rob13]

13 minutes ago, Scotwight said:

It's like going into a Rolls Royce car rental agency and offering to rent a Ford Truck for more money than the Rolls.  You can see why the Brits would dislike Americans.  The same thing about Thais and rice.  If you would drop your ethnocentric goggles for a minute and try a variety of Thai Rice you would be happily surprised.  Or you could go to France and ask to buy Kraft cheese slices?  Or have a British friend go to an American Steak house and ask them to boil a prime beef steak well done.  Or go to Rome and ask them for Franco American spaghettios.  Or start a thread on where to buy  Vegemite.

 

 

 

Comfort food. No doubt you have something hiding in your cupboard,that  makes no sense to buy in Thailand other than you like it.

[Inn Between]

50 minutes ago, Scotwight said:

It's like going into a Rolls Royce car rental agency and offering to rent a Ford Truck for more money than the Rolls.  You can see why the Brits would dislike Americans.  The same thing about Thais and rice.  If you would drop your ethnocentric goggles for a minute and try a variety of Thai Rice you would be happily surprised.  Or you could go to France and ask to buy Kraft cheese slices?  Or have a British friend go to an American Steak house and ask them to boil a prime beef steak well done.  Or go to Rome and ask them for Franco American spaghettios.  Or start a thread on where to buy  Vegemite.

 

 

Ummm....ya.....sure....Okay. I guess there's supposed to be a joke or something like that in your rambling. Obviously you didn't read or understand enough to see that I happily eat varieties of Thai rice. (no need to capitalize 'rice' as you do, BTW)  Seems really really clear that I wanted to get some UBC rice to satisfy cravings sometimes for something I grew up eating. 

 

As for your beloved tinned pasta, you can happily enjoy as much as you want -- disgusting stuff IMHO, but go for it, man. Yummy for you!

 

And how Vegemite gets into a question about where to buy a brand of rice beats me. Whew!

[Barefoot]

To the OP, I also grew up with Uncle Ben's rice.  I have lived in Pattaya for ten years and have never found it for sale.  I have tried dozens of other types of rice and nothing comes close to the taste of Uncle Ben's converted rice.  It's spectacular, and everything else is just rice.

 I always ask my visiting friends if they have room in their luggage for a couple of 5-pound bags of the stuff, and I bring about 20 pounds back when I travel to the U.S.  If that does not work, simply ask a friend back home to send you some.

 

Don't let the imbeciles in this thread throw you off your mission:  Uncle Ben's rocks!

[BKKdreaming]

any tips on cooking Uncle Bens in a rice cooker or microwave ?  how much rice / water ?

 

I am sure my Mom just cooked it in a pot on an oven , but that was decades ago and I do not have a stove

[Merylhighground]

I can sympathise with the OP here. We all grew up with different produce, many of which become comfort foods to us in later life, more so in expat life.

Thankfully, personally speaking, my wife having lived away from Thailand and had/has similar cravings for authentic Thai food while in the UK, now doesn't go on too much at me when I go 'splurging' at Villa Market and the like, nor even when I 'go big' on Expat Supermarket, British Corner Store and the like.

Most of these seem aimed mostly at British expats, however I am sure there must be equivalents aimed at the US expat. This is the direction I'd point the OP at, though certainly the most expensive option these sites are also the most certain way to get the goods to your door you simply can't find in Thailand. This is the only surefire way of ensuring you satisfy those urges even if it is (at times) ludicrously expensive.

Failing that, if you are lucky enough to have people visiting from home regularly, you could always put in a shopping list with them for goods to bring along and drop with you upon arrival. I am fortunate in this way that I have a reciprocal agreement with British pals who live in the UK with Thai spouses that when we visit the UK we bring Thai goods for their spouses and in turn when they visit the Kingdom they come bearing goods from the UK for me.

 

I also have a niggling recollection that while in one or other of the import supermarkets, (either Villa or TOPS) before we left in March, I read a blurb in, if I recall correctly, one of those advertising sheets they hand out, which offered a service where you can ask for specific items to be imported. Whether or not they choose to import your specific desired item might be a totally arbitrary decision, especially given the nature of your wishes - would they import rice to Thailand on the whim of a 'crazy Farang?'*

Apologies for being so vague but those last few weeks were so hectic they are somewhat of a blur now. Also apologies for rambling like an senile old man but the kids have fried my brain with various homework today...

 

* - I am in no way suggesting you may be a 'crazy farang' merely hypothesising as to what a Thai Supermarket manager's thought may be to seeing such a request, given that, as mentioned elsewhere, Thai rice is (yet another) source of Thai national pride.

Good luck. Hope you find some Uncle Ben's soon.

[Merylhighground]

1 hour ago, BKKdreaming said:

any tips on cooking Uncle Bens in a rice cooker or microwave ?  how much rice / water ?

 

I am sure my Mom just cooked it in a pot on an oven , but that was decades ago and I do not have a stove

 

I'm not too bad in the kitchen but for years rice was my downfall,  try as I might I could never get it right until we got a rice cooker. Now I can cook the stuff like a native. I find a ratio of just  under 2 water to one rice. If I'm doing for two or three of us I bung in three scoops of rice to about 5 and a half scoops of water (using the scoop thingy that came with the rice cooker as a measure) with belting results every time....

[BKKdreaming]

yeah thats what I normaly do , but I got lazy and got a measuring up and put a mark at the 2 scoop level , 

then fill the water up to the mark , ........   just makes it easier then finding the scoop when you need it

 

but I am not sure if Unle Bens needs the same amount of water ??????

[Inn Between]

5 hours ago, Barefoot said:

To the OP, I also grew up with Uncle Ben's rice.  I have lived in Pattaya for ten years and have never found it for sale.  I have tried dozens of other types of rice and nothing comes close to the taste of Uncle Ben's converted rice.  It's spectacular, and everything else is just rice.

 I always ask my visiting friends if they have room in their luggage for a couple of 5-pound bags of the stuff, and I bring about 20 pounds back when I travel to the U.S.  If that does not work, simply ask a friend back home to send you some.

 

Don't let the imbeciles in this thread throw you off your mission:  Uncle Ben's rocks!

 

It's nice to hear from someone who understands Uncle Ben's Converted Rice enough to be sympathetic and know that nothing here is quite the same as good parboiled rice. Unfortunately, nobody I know from the land of Uncle Ben's has been traveling lately, so I'll just have to wait until my next visit home. Thanks for the encouragement. 

 

[Inn Between]

3 hours ago, Merylhighground said:

I can sympathise with the OP here. We all grew up with different produce, many of which become comfort foods to us in later life, more so in expat life.

Thankfully, personally speaking, my wife having lived away from Thailand and had/has similar cravings for authentic Thai food while in the UK, now doesn't go on too much at me when I go 'splurging' at Villa Market and the like, nor even when I 'go big' on Expat Supermarket, British Corner Store and the like.

Most of these seem aimed mostly at British expats, however I am sure there must be equivalents aimed at the US expat. This is the direction I'd point the OP at, though certainly the most expensive option these sites are also the most certain way to get the goods to your door you simply can't find in Thailand. This is the only surefire way of ensuring you satisfy those urges even if it is (at times) ludicrously expensive.

Failing that, if you are lucky enough to have people visiting from home regularly, you could always put in a shopping list with them for goods to bring along and drop with you upon arrival. I am fortunate in this way that I have a reciprocal agreement with British pals who live in the UK with Thai spouses that when we visit the UK we bring Thai goods for their spouses and in turn when they visit the Kingdom they come bearing goods from the UK for me.

 

I also have a niggling recollection that while in one or other of the import supermarkets, (either Villa or TOPS) before we left in March, I read a blurb in, if I recall correctly, one of those advertising sheets they hand out, which offered a service where you can ask for specific items to be imported. Whether or not they choose to import your specific desired item might be a totally arbitrary decision, especially given the nature of your wishes - would they import rice to Thailand on the whim of a 'crazy Farang?'*

Apologies for being so vague but those last few weeks were so hectic they are somewhat of a blur now. Also apologies for rambling like an senile old man but the kids have fried my brain with various homework today...

 

* - I am in no way suggesting you may be a 'crazy farang' merely hypothesising as to what a Thai Supermarket manager's thought may be to seeing such a request, given that, as mentioned elsewhere, Thai rice is (yet another) source of Thai national pride.

Good luck. Hope you find some Uncle Ben's soon.

 

Thanks for the info. Now that you mention it, I can also recall something about Villa or one of the more western food oriented markets importing certain goods on request.  I have to agree that people handling such a request would be quite confused about the need to order rice (that's mainly popular in North America) into Thailand. But Makro imports Japanese style and Indian (basmati) rice, so who knows? 

 

The US grows lot of rice and the parboiling method of processing is very popular. I ran across some info a long time ago that seemed to suggest Thailand processed some of its rice that way, so I assumed with enough searching, I'd find a bag to buy, but that hasn't happened. Any parboiled rice would be nice -- doesn't have to be Uncle Ben's. 

[Inn Between]

5 hours ago, BKKdreaming said:

any tips on cooking Uncle Bens in a rice cooker or microwave ?  how much rice / water ?

 

I am sure my Mom just cooked it in a pot on an oven , but that was decades ago and I do not have a stove

 

I was taught here in Thailand to put your rice in the rice cooker and even it out. Then touch the top of the rice with your (averaged-sized) index finger and pour water in until it reaches the first joint. That's for white rice, but for brown you need to add a little more. I find this method works well.