Rice Bran Oil Offers a Lighter Way to Fry

Bay Area chefs have upped their use of oil made from rice bran, an outer layer of rice that humans can't digest but livestock thrives on.

The dark golden colored rice bran oil has been commercially available in the United States for almost a decade, but is now gaining more in popularity. Its clean, neutral taste makes it great for frying, and its chemical makeup means it generally doesn't burn.

"The oil holds up really well, so I don't have to change it so often," says Marlowe executive chef Jenn Puccio, known for her crisp french fries and Brussels sprout chips.

Free of trans fats, with moderate levels of saturated fatty acids and high levels of antioxidants, rice bran oil resists breaking down at high temperatures.

In fact, its smoke point - the temperature at which the oil begins to smoke and degrade - is almost 500 degrees. By comparison, grape seed oil, which is too expensive for deep frying, smokes at 485 degrees; peanut oil's 460 degrees is in third place, with canola oil and olive oil at 450 and 360 degrees, respectively.

Jason Berthold, executive chef of San Francisco's RN74, started using rice bran oil two years ago when the restaurant opened. He prefers it to peanut oil and canola oil, which he respectively ranks second and third.

"Rice bran oil is flavorless, has a high smoke point and a stable shelf life," Berthold says.

Berthold and other chefs also use rice flour along with the bran's oil. A signature RN74 starter - tempura mushrooms - owes its light crispiness to both rice products.

When the mushrooms are coated in a batter using rice flour, they "retain crispness better than wheat flour batters," Berthold says. Using rice flour on its own also means the dish is gluten-free.

Other chefs, however, combine rice flour with wheat flour. Nick Balla, executive chef and co-owner of Nombe, a San Francisco izakaya restaurant, uses rice flour and cornstarch for his popular honey togarashi chicken wings.

Balla makes his own rice flour by toasting Japanese short grain rice, then grinding it. Toasted rice flour is a condiment in Thai cuisine.

"Kory Stewart (now chef at Americano) had a jar several years ago that I tried as a coating on a batch of wings that we made for a staff meal. This evolved at O (Izakaya) Lounge and Nombe into the wings that we currently sell," Balla wrote in an e-mail.

Balla also relies on rice bran oil for its slightly nutty aroma and flavor. "Many conventional vegetable oils processed for frying seem to have a funky or chemical aroma," he writes

At Presidio Social Club, chef Derek McCarthy credits rice flour and rice bran oil for the popularity of his buttermilk-soaked chicken thighs.

After experimenting with different combinations for the dredge, including all-purpose flour and cornstarch (which didn't work), McCarthy tried white rice flour and cornstarch.

"I like the lighter, crispier texture that rice flour provides," he says. "Cornstarch also helps keep the batter light and crispy."

Besides rice flour and cornstarch, McCarthy also includes Wondra flour in his coating, using it also for rock cod. The superfine Wondra - which also contains malted barley - resists clumping and blends best with the other ingredients, McCarthy says.

But, rice - in a form most diners don't even think about - is the key.