Rice is an important foundation to Asian cuisine that I considered to be healthy for a long time. Then I discovered that the rice I enjoyed - Jasmine rice - actually has high glycemic index. I tried searching for acceptable alternatives, but I found brown rice and basmati rice to not hit the spot. Then I came by Malcolm Gladwell’s “Rule of the Thirds” from his book The Tipping Point, where about a third of a minority group in a community reaches enough mass to change group dynamics. It inspired me to apply to rice, where adding about a third of less desirable rice would not negatively impact the overall taste too much. Surprisingly I found that the different rices did not cook at different enough rates unless it was wild black rice, but if you are more discerning than me you can pre-soak the hardier rice for 30 mins.

Another scientifically based way to reduce rice’s glycemic load is to add rice bran oil, and leave in the fridge overnight (NIH). The short strands of oil form complexes with rice starch overnight, forming a resistant starch that is digested more slowly.