Undeniably, rice is a staple food in the Japanese diet. It plays a significant role in Japanese cuisine, and not surprisingly, some Japanese eat rice at every meal. Many people tend to focus only on fish when making or eating sushi. However, rice and its preparation are as crucial as fish in sushi-making. This blog will explain the different types of rice and Japanese rice dishes enjoyed in the country.
Varieties of Rice Based on Grain Lengths
There are many types of rice around the world. These can be divided broadly into three basic categories based on the length of the rice grain: long, medium, and short grain.
Long Grain Rice
As you may guess, long-grain rice literally has a lengthy shape. Long-grain rice has a savory aroma and a light, refreshing taste with some stickiness. It is often served with Southeast Asian curries. Besides, the rice itself is often flavored. Long-grain rice is the most produced rice in the world and is grown in many countries. These include China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Southern United States, which account for more than 80% of the global share combined.
Medium Grain Rice
Like long-grain rice, medium-grain rice is longer than its width, usually two to three times as long as it is wide. This type of rice tends to be moist, soft, slightly sticky, and separated rather than fluffy. The glutinous texture comes from the fact that it produces more starch when cooked than long-grain rice. This creates a creamy texture ideal for risotto, paella, soups, rice pudding, and other dishes. Common medium-grain varieties include Arborio, Valencia, Carnaroli, and Bomba.
Short Grain Rice
As its name suggests, short-grain rice has short, rounded kernels slightly longer than their width. This fluffy rice cooks softly and has a pleasant consistency and resilience. Sushi rice falls into this category of short-grain rice. Specifically, the strain of short-grain rice Koshihikari is popular as sushi rice because of its perfect balance of resilience, stickiness, and savory taste.
Different Types of Rice
Below are examples of rice that are often used in cooking. Depending on what you are making, your choice of rice becomes the first pivotal step in the cooking process. Bear in mind that having a general knowledge of rice will give you an advantage as a chef.
Basmati Rice (long grain)
Basmati rice is traditionally grown in India, the biggest basmati rice producer, Pakistan, and other countries. This long-grain rice is known for its enticing aroma and slim shape. Once cooked, it becomes light and fluffy, making it perfect for curries, soup, and other dishes like biryani. It is attracting attention from a health perspective because it is lower in calories and richer in fiber than other white rice.
Jasmine Rice (long grain)
Jasmine rice, another type of long-grain rice, also has subtly aromatic, light, and fluffy features like Basmati rice. This rice is traditionally grown in Thailand and other Eastern Asian countries. You can see the difference in taste and texture between basmati rice and jasmine rice. While Basmati rice expands a lot when cooked, Jasmine rice retains moisture. This creates a soft, slightly sticky, creamy texture, making it suitable for fried rice, curries, desserts, and more.
Calrose (medium grain)
Calrose rice is a medium-grain variety popular in California and widely used in Asian and Mediterranean cuisines. Known for its soft, sticky texture when cooked, it is very popular for use in sushi, risotto, and rice bowls. As Calrose is a medium-grain variety, its stickiness is slightly less than the ideal stickiness that short-grain rice can offer. Calrose absorbs flavors well, making it versatile for various dishes and a pantry staple.
Japanese Rice (uruchimai) (short grain)
Uruchimai, the staple food of the Japanese diet, is a short-grain rice that is consumed the most in Japan. There are generally two categories of Japanese rice, one of which is this kind. Koshihikari and other major strains of Japanese rice fall under uruchimai as well. The significant features of uruchimai are its moisture content, consistency, and flavor. The well-balanced combination of these factors makes it ideal for sushi and other local Japanese dishes. Besides, uruchimai is also used to make Japanese sake.
Sticky Rice (mochi-gome) (short grain)
The other Japanese rice, often compared to uruchimai above, is the sticky rice called mochi-gome. Mochi-gome is essential for making rice cakes, and many Japanese confectioneries use it for its unique glutinous texture, including ohagi balls and senbei rice crackers.
Brown Rice (any length)
Brown rice refers to rice with only the husk removed from the rice seed. While brown rice is not milled, white rice has the husk, bran, and germ removed from the rice seed. In other words, brown rice contains all the microorganisms and bran layers and is rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. This makes it more nutritious than white rice in general. For this reason, it serves as an excellent staple food. However, it requires extra care. It takes longer to cook brown rice than white rice, and the texture can be hard and dry if not cooked properly.
Black Rice (any length)
Black rice is rice with a blackish pigment in the bran. This type of rice, known as wild rice or ancient rice, is produced in some Asian countries, including China, India, and Thailand. Most of the black rice available globally is long-grained and glutinous rice. Compared to white rice and brown rice, black rice is high in antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins, which help combat inflammation and support heart health. It is also a good source of fiber, iron, and protein, making it beneficial for digestion and muscle repair. Black rice has a slightly nutty flavor and a chewy texture, adding depth and variety to meals.
As a side note, in addition to black rice, there are red rice, green rice, and other types of wild rice, each with colored bran.
Popular Japanese Rice Dishes
Harako-meshi is a local dish enjoyed nationwide in Japan. This salmon-over-rice dish uses salmon flesh, roe, and rice flavored with dashi. One traditional way is to cook salmon and rice together in the same bowl, transferring the juicy flavor of salmon to the rice.
Tai-meshi is another local dish in which a whole sea bream is cooked in a pot with rice. Sea bream is often served on celebratory occasions in the country, and this dish, with its festive appearance, is very popular.
Ochazuke or chazuke refers to a dish of rice with tea poured over it. It is a national dish loved by people of all ages. While various types of tea are used for the dish, including green tea and hojicha (roasted green tea), it sometimes comes with dashi. The rice is often topped with seaweed and pickled plums or vegetables. In addition, shiso leaves, myoga ginger, and fish, like sea bream, are among the other popular ingredients.
Our platform offers a course to teach you how to make ochazuke with sea bream, tai-chazuke.
Do You Have To Wash Rice?
Many people tend to miss the significance of rice when cooking Japanese dishes. However, please note that rice is one of the most essential components of Japanese cuisine. As a Japanese chef, it is crucial to treat rice properly to make it taste better.
Modern milling technology removes most of the bran at the milling stage. Thus, we do not need to rub the rice vigorously when cooking rice. The purpose of washing rice is to scrape off the remaining bran and dust on the surface. This helps to achieve an ideal result of cooked rice.
Also, it is necessary to always cook with the right amount of rice and water. To do that, you need to accurately measure factors, including the amount of rice, draining time, time submerged in water, and the amount of water used to cook the rice.
This blog post provides step-by-step instructions for washing rice. Alternatively, our course demonstrates the steps with a video and written instructions.
Learn More about Rice with MJCA!
As different types of rice have various applications and dishes ideal for each type, having knowledge of rice will definitely improve your cooking skills.
Sushi chefs are required to have a deep understanding of rice, fish, and other ingredients they treat. Our Sushi Masterclass -Foundation- course covers the content extensively, from which rice to choose to how to plate sushi. It will be a perfect step to achieving your goal.
Our Advanced course can help you enhance your skills, providing professional techniques and tips on handling a more diverse variety of fish and advanced cooking skills, such as aging and curing techniques.
These courses are also available in our Grand Membership Plus, where you can access over 30 current and future courses.
If you have any questions, we are happy to answer them during a free consultation!
