Wild rice looks like very long long-grain rice gives this side dish a toothsome, chewy texture similar to brown rice and other whole grains. It has a toasty, nutty, earthy flavor, and can often smell and taste slightly like black tea. The flavor and texture it adds over other rices and grains is worth the extra effort required in cooking it, and it’s buttery to add to any entrees and other dishes in a way that other grains seem to act more as mere filler or heft.