Germinated brown rice.

Germinated brown rice is brown rice that has been soaked until a tiny root just shows at the tip of each grain, then heated or dried so it keeps. In Thailand it is often sold as GABA rice. The grains look like ordinary brown rice, and if you look closely you can sometimes see the small sprout. Cooked, it is softer and a little sweeter than plain brown rice, with less of the firm chew, so it suits people who find brown rice hard going.

Ways to use it

• Serve it with curries, stir-fries and grilled fish in place of white rice.
• Mix it with white jasmine rice for a pot that is soft but still has some bite.
• Simmer it with plenty of water or stock for a thick rice soup.
• Use cooled leftover rice for fried rice.

Rinse it gently once, since the grain is already partly softened. It cooks faster than plain brown rice. A rice cooker with a brown rice or mixed grain setting does it well. On the stove, use roughly one and a half times as much water as rice, simmer covered for about 25 to 30 minutes, then rest it with the lid on for 10 minutes. It doesn't need soaking first.

Storing it

Like other rice with the bran on, it can go rancid over time. Keep it sealed in a cool, dry place away from sun and insects, close the pack well after opening, and use it by the best-before date on the pack.

Where it comes from

Grown to certified organic standards. The certificate for each lot is shown when you trace your pack.

Every pack will carry a lot code. Enter it on the Trace your pack page and you will see the farms in that lot, the packing date and the certificate.