Rice is a good source of energy and fiber, and it's eaten in nearly every country of the world. There are more than 7,000 varieties of cultivated rice.

After rice is harvested, it is cleaned and the outer covering, called a hull or chaff, is removed. The remaining rice is brown, red or sometimes black, depending upon the seeds it originated from. If the layers of bran are then removed, white rice remains.

Brown rice is chewy and more nutritious than white rice, due to the layers of bran that remain.

Like brown rice, red rice also maintains the bran, resulting in a chewy, nutritious rice. Red rice is mainly grown in Europe, India and Southeast Asia.

Both brown and red rice can be long-, medium- or short-grain. The long- grain variety is drier and fluffs when cooked. Short-grain rice has higher starch content and is sticky when cooked.

Brown and red rice are whole-grain rice. They each require approximately 60 minutes of boiling time to soften.

Brown and red rice come from different types of seeds, but are equivalent in nutrition and cooking time. The main difference is the taste, which is a matter of personal preference.