Details
Whole-grain glutinous rice with a deep purple-black bran, prized as much for its colour as its flavour. Soak it for a few hours, then steam or simmer, and the grains turn a glossy amethyst and release their colour into everything around them. The taste is gently nutty and faintly sweet, the texture chewy and sticky rather than fluffy. Best known in sweet dishes: cook it down with coconut milk and palm sugar for a warm dessert soup, or fold it into eight-treasure rice. It is just as good savoury, blended with white glutinous rice for zongzi, or slow-cooked into a purple congee. Rinse well and soak before cooking.
