Bulk Bin #3387

mystery grain

That’s all I got. #3387.

Ever since I cleaned out my fridge before vacation I’ve been on a kind of cleaning kick. It’s in spurts. And tiny spurts at that. But it’s better than my normal.

Yesterday as I searched for a grain for dinner I came across a ton of half empty bags. I’ve recently started saving glass jars. Jars from salsa, capers, tomato sauce, anything really. If I can get the label off after a dishwasher run then it’s a keeper. In a frenzy I whipped out my funnel and poured bags of arborio rice, lentils and quinoa into their own more shelf-stable (I think?) containers.

And that’s where I came across #3387.

I seriously cannot identify that thing.

I know we’ve asked a lot of you this week: what to do with garlic scapes, the best way to eat strawberries and how to get drunk off popsicles, but I really need one last favor.

There’s a jar and a sticky waiting for #3387. Help the grains find their home.

DSC_0040-1

Continued
The Search is On: Name that Grain

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20 comments

  • Olga @ MangoTomato June 17, 2010  

    Whatever it is, cook it like you would brown rice. I think that would be the best solution 🙂

  • Maids June 17, 2010  

    trying to understand the picture. Are they more or less the size of popcorn kernels but flatter and a little longer?

  • Nee Nee June 17, 2010  

    I say either really short grain brown rice or wheat berries.

  • AW June 17, 2010  

    Looks like some sort of barley.

  • gansie June 17, 2010  

    i really hope this is farro? could it be?

  • Maids June 17, 2010  

    it looks a little like yellow dent corn from the Andes. Or Kamut. I can’t tell how teardropped it is…

  • dosdos June 17, 2010  

    I’m pretty sure farro is longer than that. Kamut’s pretty long and narrow. Wheat berries is a good guess but it doesn’t have the line down the middle splitting it in half like a little long booty…. I’m really leaning towards rice. Still, its hard to tell how big the grains are in the picture…

  • Britannia June 17, 2010  

    Have you called the store where you got it from, Yes! Organic, Whole Foods?

  • Danielle June 17, 2010  

    Amaranth?

  • Maids June 17, 2010  

    hey gans,
    why not provide us with a picture of a few of the mystery grains next to a few grains of regular brown or white rice so that we have a perspective!

  • westcoast June 17, 2010  

    is this from the takoma park co-op trip you and i made? is it one of their many varieties of brown rice? that’s what it looks like to me, and whoever said cook it like brown rice is probably headed down the right path.

  • gansie June 17, 2010  

    thanks for the help everyone. i think maids had a good idea. i’ll photo a few mystery grains next to identified grains for perspective.

  • ajjelibean June 21, 2010  

    Does raw sunflower kernels from Tree of Life sound familiar?
    I found a google image of raw sunflower kernels too.
    http://www.thenutfactory.com/photos/seeds-sunflower-ns.jpg

  • Eva June 24, 2010  

    Try this: http://www.culinate.com/articles/features/grain_glossary

    I suspect it is sweet brown rice, though the photo makes it look fairly yellow. That could be an aging, oxidizing, or light exposure effect, though. I suggest cooking it and tasting it — that might give you a good clue.

    @Danielle: Definitely NOT amaranth! Those grains are itty bitty and almost perfectly round! Like really tiny millet.

  • Fred Fomm June 26, 2010  

    Midget mermaid eggs.

  • Lindsay June 30, 2010  

    I’m pretty sure it’s sweet brown rice. I was at Whole Foods yesterday and saw it in a bulk bin and a light went off. Here’s a picture: http://www.purcellmountainfarms.com/Organic%20Sweet%20Brown%20Rice.htm

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