PHOTOS: This Saudi Arabian rice is world's most expensive

[Sargon of Akkad]

PHOTOS: This Saudi Arabian rice is world's most expensive

The hesawi red rice grown in Saudi Arabia. (Supplied)​

By Ibrahim al-Hussein, Al Arabiya.net – Al-Ahsa
Monday, 27 February 2017

The city of Al-Ahsa in the Saudi Arabian eastern region is well-known for its hesawi red rice, which is the most expensive in the world.

Al-Arabiya met with rice farmer Taher al-Aqar, who explained how this rice, which can reach to up to SAR50 per kilogram, is grown.

According to Al-Aqar, this quality of rare red rice is threatened with extinction due to rare water resources.

“The rice seedlings are completely immersed in water and then they are irrigated for five continuous days every week. We do this for around four months until it’s time to harvest it,” he said.

“The hesawi rice is an agricultural crop that’s grown in hot areas as it needs temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius otherwise it will not complete its growth phases.

“It also consumes a lot of water while it’s being planted although its roots reserve water for a long time. This is why farmers in Al-Ahsa prefer to plant it in lands where the soil is saturated in water so they can immerse it all in water while irrigating it from groundwater,” Al-Aqar added.

Red rice is rich in carbohydrates, proteins and fibers that have high nutritional values, which help those suffering from arthritis and broken bones heal.

It is also recommended for women who have just given birth, as it helps them gain the nutrition they lost during labor.

Last Update: Monday, 27 February 2017 KSA 13:51 - GMT 10:51

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/bus...his-Saudi-rice-is-world-s-most-expensive.html

Hopefully this rice will never become extinct and continue flourishing as has been the case since time immortal. As usual I cannot stress the importance of supporting the local agricultural sector and farmers.

 

[AmirPatriot]

So it needs extremely high temperatures and an inordinate amount of water to survive?

No wonder it's near extinction.

 

[Sargon of Akkad]

So it needs extremely high temperatures and an inordinate amount of water to survive?

No wonder it's near extinction.

I don't know how they do it exactly but it sounds challenging for sure. Anyway I have tasted it and it is honestly one of the best types and varieties of rice that I have eaten to date. It has a quite unique flavor. Nutty-like. Anyway red rice in general is rare from what I know.

 

[Deidara]

Wow rice in desert. Who wouldve thought. In Pakistani plains one can tell where it rains well by only looking at the rice producing regions.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Anyway red rice in general is rare from what I know.

Seems rather strange to grow a crop that requires so much water, when that is exactly the commodity that is in short supply in KSA. Would it not make more sense to grow other crops that are less water intense in KSA and purchase paddy to grow red rice in India or Bangladesh where they not only have the heat but have abundant supply of water?

Wow rice in desert

What is it with the 'wow'? What do most of the crops in Pakistan grow in - desert? Not for nothing is the Indus irrigation system the biggest in the world.

 

[Deidara]

What is it with the 'wow'? What do most of the crops in Pakistan grow in - desert? Not for nothing is the Indus irrigation system the biggest in the world.

But rice in Pakistan doesnt grow in desert. All of it grows in the rainy regions.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

But rice in Pakistan doesnt grow in desert. All of it grows in the rainy regions.

Most of Pakistan is also desert. Most of the crops go in irrigated canals. The only reason you don't see the desert is because the desert is irrigated and is green. Cut off the canals and watch what would happen in 6 months. Land would revert to desert semi-desert. No place in Pakistan get's enough rain to grow rice. It can ONLY be grown by irrigation.

 

[Sargon of Akkad]

Wow rice in desert. Who wouldve thought. In Pakistani plains one can tell where it rains well by only looking at the rice producing regions.

KSA is a huge country. 3 times the size of Pakistan for instance. The climate of KSA is dominated by arid climate but over 50% of the country is mountainous and you have large fertile areas.

Percentage wise (compared to the entire landmass of KSA) those fertile areas do not amount to significant areas but given the size of KSA those fertile areas can rival the fertile areas of otherwise non-arid countries whose size is many times smaller than KSA. This is why KSA is practically able to produce every vegetable, fruit, tropical fruits, coffee, tea, rice and you name it. However economically and in terms of the environment (growing population and an incredibly wasteful population) this is not foreseeable. Also KSA has huge underground water reserves. In the 1970's and 1980's KSA was one of the biggest exporters of wheat for instance and KSA was exporting to European markets and the Soviet Union. Hard to imagine.

http://www.accelerando.cz/sa/en/sa7_2.php

As for deserts in KSA, which are very varied and beautiful, they come in many shapes and forms. Sandy, volcanic, rocky, mountainous and steppe like.

There are 3 "real" deserts in KSA. The mighty Rub' al-Khali (almost entirely sandy and home to some of the largest sand dunes in the world and some incredible landcapes recently captured from space and by National Geographic - the numerous lakes one can find in the middle of nowhere included) which covers most of the Southeast, Ad-Dahna in Najd which is connected to the An-Nafud desert in the North. However the two latter only cover parts of Najd and Northern KSA unlike the Rub' al-Khali which covers all of the Southeast essentially. The reason why you can find so many lakes in the Rub' al-Khali is actually due to the fact that the entire desert was once the third largest lake in the world a few millennia ago.



https://ayaat.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/rivers-in-rub-al-khali-the-empty-quarter/

Also the region in question (Al-Ahsa) is one of the most fertile ones in the Middle East. It is not desert although it is lowland. It is due to the underground water reserves as the rainfall is sparse.

For instance another "problem", when it rains in for instance Northern KSA, much of the rainwater ends up in Iraq as the elevation of Iraq is lower. This has also given rise to lakes in the deserts and lowlands of Southern Iraq which climate wise are identical to Northern KSA and most of KSA. Namely arid climate.

 

[Deidara]

KSA is a huge country. 3 times the size of Pakistan for instance. The climate of KSA is dominated by arid climate but over 50% of the country is mountainous and you have large fertile areas.

Percentage wise (compared to the entire landmass of KSA) those fertile areas do not amount to significant areas but given the size of KSA those fertile areas can rival the fertile areas of otherwise non-arid countries whose size is many times smaller than KSA. This is why KSA is practically able to produce every vegetable, fruit, tropical fruits, coffee, tea, rice and you name it. However economically and in terms of the environment (growing population and an incredibly wasteful population) this is not foreseeable. Also KSA has huge underground water reserves. In the 1970's and 1980's KSA was one of the biggest exporters of wheat for instance and KSA was exporting to European markets and the Soviet Union. Hard to imagine.

http://www.accelerando.cz/sa/en/sa7_2.php

As for deserts in KSA, which are very varied and beautiful, they come in many shapes and forms. Sandy, volcanic, rocky, mountainous and steppe like.

There are 3 "real" deserts in KSA. The mighty Rub' al-Khali (almost entirely sandy and home to some of the largest sand dunes in the world and some incredibly landcapes - lakes included) which covers most of the Southeast, Ad-Dahna in Najd which is connected to the An-Nafud desert in the North. However the two latter only cover parts of Najd and Northern KSA unlike the Rub' al-Khali which covers all of the Southeast essentially.

Also the region in question (Al-Ahsa) is one of the most fertile ones in the Middle East. It is not desert although it is lowland. It is due to the underground water reserves.

Thanks. Very informative.

 

[Sargon of Akkad]

Seems rather strange to grow a crop that requires so much water, when that is exactly the commodity that is in short supply in KSA. Would it not make more sense to grow other crops that are less water intense in KSA and purchase paddy to grow red rice in India or Bangladesh where they not only have the heat but have abundant supply of water?

What is it with the 'wow'? What do most of the crops in Pakistan grow in - desert? Not for nothing is the Indus irrigation system the biggest in the world.

This type of agriculture (rice production in Al-Ahsa and the Eastern Province of KSA in general) is a remnant of the "old times". This kind of occupation has been ongoing since time immortal. Nowadays trade is easy and for instance Basmati rice can easily be imported from Pakistan next door, Vietnam (not basmati rice but other varieties), China, India or from elsewhere. Previously (just a few centuries ago let alone millennia ago) this kind of trade was limited to sea trade and caravans. So I guess the locals wanted to be self-reliant in the same sense that farmers in nearby Southern Iraq (where rice is also produced) wanted to.

Today almost all of the rice is imported from abroad as are many other corps as it is simply not foreseeable to continue mass-scale agricultural production in KSA of certain corps due to price, the question of water, growing population etc.

However the climate will reverse one day and most of the Arab world and Middle East will become fertile like it was for most of recorded history. This is due to the climatic cycles.

However before that happens one must rely on underground water reserves, the rainfall that falls and seawater desalination. Luckily for KSA and Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world, is surrounded by sea everywhere expect the North. So this enables the use of seawater once desalinated and once this technology improves further and becomes cheaper corps that are now imported might be produced domestically again on a greater scale such as wheat or rice.

However we don't really know the environmental repercussions of such policies and whether it is even economically foreseeable to produce it domestically when you can import it. That is why GCC countries, China and many others have invested and are investing in farmland in Africa for instance. I know that KSA has invested in Ethiopia in this regard. However currently Horn of Africa and much of Africa is hit by famine so nothing is guaranteed. Given the history of humans we might destroy our very own planet not far from now.

Anyway personally I like farming and agriculture and in another life I could have seen myself as a farmer.

Thanks. Very informative.

No biggie. Welcome.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

@Sargon of Akkad Most of the climate in Pakistan (barring the north and north west) is very similar to KSA. Indeed it is the same category of climsate on the Koppen-Geiger scale and is the easterly extention of the dry zone that begins in Marocco. Then it pans out across North Africa over KSA over to Pakistan. However the differance is we have glacier fed rivers from Tibet, China and Northern Pakistan which is the largest repository of glaciers outside of the poles. The result is we have the huge Indus river system which traverse down country throught desert. It was here the Indus civilization took root. Today it has been dammed at over dozen points with over 0.5 million miles of canals to irrigate huge area. This is similar to Egypt and Nile watering the land.

If KSA could get water isse resolved you could feed half the world with the land you have. I suppose at some point in future tecnology will progress to that level.

 

[livingdead]

10 gbp per kg? may be in next life

 

[Sargon of Akkad]

The color of Hasawi rice:












Hasawi Lamb Kabsah

Ingredients:
3 cup Hasawi rice
700 gm lamb chunks
5 ½ cup boiled water
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Large onion, chopped
2 Large tomato, pureed
2 Tbsp tomato paste
½ medium green bell pepper, cut into small cubes
2 tsp crushed garlic
4 pieces of each (cardamom, cloves)
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp of each (mixed spices – ground cumin)
½ tsp ground dry lemon
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp of saffron

For the filling:

2 medium onion, chopped
½ tsp crushed garlic
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
¼ tsp of each (ground cardamom – ground dry lemon – salt)
Instructions:
1. Wash the rice very well and soak it in salted warm water for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan, then sauté onion and garlic for 3 – 4 minutes then add meat chunks and sauté until light golden.
3. Add the boiling water tomato and leave to cook for 10-12 minutes.
4. Add boiling water, spices, chicken bouillon and salt, leave to cook for 25-30 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.
5. Drain the rice thoroughly and add to the pan with the chopped green pepper (you can add more water if needed, water level should be 1 inch higher than rice level), bring to boil and cook uncovered for 5 minutes. Cover the pan tightly and cook on low heat until done for 15 – 20 minutes.
6. To make the filling: in a small pan sauté the onion until lightly golden then add a little water and cook until the water evaporates repeat until the onion is golden brown, then add the garlic and spices .
7. Put the rice on a serving dish and top it with the meat chunks then the sautéed filling.







Typical village in the rice region of Eastern Province.



Simple folks and simple lives but they have a good life most of them. Sometimes I envy them and similar village folks across the world.

Date harvest - another famous crop in the region but obviously not as good as the Hijazi ones.

@Full Moon @azzo @KTOOOOM @somebozo @الأعرابي @alarabi @Kuwaiti Girl @Malik Alashter etc. have you guys ever tasted it?

 

[lonelyman]

KSA is a huge country. 3 times the size of Pakistan for instance. The climate of KSA is dominated by arid climate but over 50% of the country is mountainous and you have large fertile areas.

Percentage wise (compared to the entire landmass of KSA) those fertile areas do not amount to significant areas but given the size of KSA those fertile areas can rival the fertile areas of otherwise non-arid countries whose size is many times smaller than KSA. This is why KSA is practically able to produce every vegetable, fruit, tropical fruits, coffee, tea, rice and you name it. However economically and in terms of the environment (growing population and an incredibly wasteful population) this is not foreseeable. Also KSA has huge underground water reserves. In the 1970's and 1980's KSA was one of the biggest exporters of wheat for instance and KSA was exporting to European markets and the Soviet Union. Hard to imagine.

http://www.accelerando.cz/sa/en/sa7_2.php

As for deserts in KSA, which are very varied and beautiful, they come in many shapes and forms. Sandy, volcanic, rocky, mountainous and steppe like.

There are 3 "real" deserts in KSA. The mighty Rub' al-Khali (almost entirely sandy and home to some of the largest sand dunes in the world and some incredible landcapes recently captured from space and by National Geographic - the numerous lakes one can find in the middle of nowhere included) which covers most of the Southeast, Ad-Dahna in Najd which is connected to the An-Nafud desert in the North. However the two latter only cover parts of Najd and Northern KSA unlike the Rub' al-Khali which covers all of the Southeast essentially. The reason why you can find so many lakes in the Rub' al-Khali is actually due to the fact that the entire desert was once the third largest lake in the world a few millennia ago.



https://ayaat.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/rivers-in-rub-al-khali-the-empty-quarter/

Also the region in question (Al-Ahsa) is one of the most fertile ones in the Middle East. It is not desert although it is lowland. It is due to the underground water reserves as the rainfall is sparse.

For instance another "problem", when it rains in for instance Northern KSA, much of the rainwater ends up in Iraq as the elevation of Iraq is lower. This has also given rise to lakes in the deserts and lowlands of Southern Iraq which climate wise are identical to Northern KSA and most of KSA. Namely arid climate.

thanks, learned something new

PHOTOS: This Saudi Arabian rice is world's most expensive

The hesawi red rice grown in Saudi Arabia. (Supplied)​

By Ibrahim al-Hussein, Al Arabiya.net – Al-Ahsa
Monday, 27 February 2017

The city of Al-Ahsa in the Saudi Arabian eastern region is well-known for its hesawi red rice, which is the most expensive in the world.

Al-Arabiya met with rice farmer Taher al-Aqar, who explained how this rice, which can reach to up to SAR50 per kilogram, is grown.

According to Al-Aqar, this quality of rare red rice is threatened with extinction due to rare water resources.

“The rice seedlings are completely immersed in water and then they are irrigated for five continuous days every week. We do this for around four months until it’s time to harvest it,” he said.

“The hesawi rice is an agricultural crop that’s grown in hot areas as it needs temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius otherwise it will not complete its growth phases.

“It also consumes a lot of water while it’s being planted although its roots reserve water for a long time. This is why farmers in Al-Ahsa prefer to plant it in lands where the soil is saturated in water so they can immerse it all in water while irrigating it from groundwater,” Al-Aqar added.

Red rice is rich in carbohydrates, proteins and fibers that have high nutritional values, which help those suffering from arthritis and broken bones heal.

It is also recommended for women who have just given birth, as it helps them gain the nutrition they lost during labor.

Last Update: Monday, 27 February 2017 KSA 13:51 - GMT 10:51

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/bus...his-Saudi-rice-is-world-s-most-expensive.html

Hopefully this rice will never become extinct and continue flourishing as has been the case since time immortal. As usual I cannot stress the importance of supporting the local agricultural sector and farmers.

beautiful

 

[Śakra]

Would love to try.

Btw have you tried basmati rice? The best rice imho.