I just discovered about 2 years ago jasmine rice. When I saw it on the shelf the first time I thought it must be flavored rice. I have had jasmine flavored green tea before so I thought the jasmine rice must be flavored somehow. But when I tried it I found it was a different thing from regular long grain rice. I buy it in 5 lbs bags whenever I can find it. the shape of the grains are a little wider and fatter in the middle. sort of like teeny footballs.

Charles, just ran across your post while looking for Easter eggs!!  I love Jasmine rice; that's the only type of rice I now buy.  At Christmas, my dentist gives to his patients bags of Jasmine rice (Jazzmen brand name) that is produced in Louisiana.  That's how I got started using Jasmine rice.  I love it. 

I would be happy to buy jasmine rice from a domestic company, but all we get locally in my town is stuff from foreign companies. The last two bags I have bought came from Thailand.

ps. I have given up on the Easter eggs. I am at 13 but don't think I'll waste any more time on it.

I used think rice was rice, and I never liked. It was just a vehicle for whatever you put on top of it.

But I discovered a strain of heritage rice that's being grown in SC; it's the same rice that was grown hundreds of years ago. Rice today has been tinkered with and changed to make it grow faster and easier, but it has no flavor---or maybe a cardboard-like flavor-- at all. This rice has not been so modified.

AND IT HAS A FLAVOR that's incredibly good!!!!! It's really really good, just by itself. Very mild and light, kind of nutty, but definitely a flavor. Now it's only rice I fix, and I eat it just with some butter and salt. If I have a big sauce or gravy, I use potatos or pasta for that.

I eat rice by itself too. I cook rice with a chicken boullion cube and a shot of olive oil in the water so it has a certain flavor when it's done. I have recently put a can or albacore tuna in the water before cooking the rice and I get a nice bit of protein in there. Almost anything I cook that has some juice left in the pan will lead to a pot of rice. Stir fries especially will have juices left that make a good rice.

do you have a brand name for that heritage rice?

The heritage rice variety I wrote about is "Carolina Gold." It is not sold in groceries (unless maybe some close to where it's grown in SC) ; it has to be ordered online from the grower---Anson Mills, and you have to buy an amount larger than I usually buy..( It may be the five pounds you already buy.)But it can be stored in the freezer for a while. I also see some serrious fine-dining restaurants featuring it.....It's not cheap, but it is extraordinary. I would not mix it with anything; i f I had a sauce or a stir-fry, I'd use something else.

The guy who grows it specializes in heritage grains; he grows and sells several unusual grains not widely available. Also some bean varities and stone-ground heritage corn meals.

The website is: ansonmills.com If you're into food, it's a very cool, very pretty site just to graze in; not overcrowded or complicated, simple to look through.He is seriously into heritage varieties, and is credited with saving some food plant varieties that were virtually extinct.