Rice. Can you tell the difference?

[kirei_na_me]

Well, as I'm waiting for my nikujaga to cook down, I was thinking about different brands of rice. I know a lot of people say that they can't tell the difference between different brands of rices and that people who claim that some brands of rice are better than others are just plain foolish.

Take me, for example. I really believe, or at least I think, Tamaki is better than any other brand of rice I've used. I've used Kokuho Rose, Nishiki, and Tamaki.

So, do you think it's all in my head that Tamaki is better than the other two, or do you think it's possible for one brand of rice to be better than the other? Do you prefer one brand of rice over the other?

[playaa]

I really, cant tell most of the time but it does vary for who cooks it. Because sometimes I like rice made by one person, and its horrible made by the next.

[jeisan]

it just depends, like i can tell korean sticky rice from minute rice or uncle ben's brown rice from wild rice :p

[neko_girl22]

Definately I can tell the difference between cheap and more expensive rice. Also I can tell the difference between rice that is given to me by a farmer (I have to take it to a machine to take the husks off) and packaged shop stuff. But sometimes I can't tell the difference between two different brands of the same price/quality level. My husband can. Maybe it takes time and experience. I eat rice at every meal so I'll be an expert in no time I guess! :-)

[TyPe-ZeRo]

I have a question concerning rice, I mean how do the japanese get their rice sticky? I mean the rice we eat isn't sticky.. i want it sticky... i wanna use chop sticks, i think we use "jasmine" rice or something blehh

[neko_girl22]

I guess it's all in the way you cook it and you should use short- medium grain, not long. Do you have a rice cooker? That will be easier, but if you cook on a stove, remember not to take the lid off, just let it steam, even after cooking. Sorry I can't remember the directions for cooking on the stove right now ... I've always used a rice cooker. but let us know if you want the directions and we'll try and find them for you
:gohan:

[TyPe-ZeRo]

I do use a rice cooker , I heard that you do something with vinegar water or salt water or something, do you know any of this :P

[neko_girl22]

nope. Just wash the rice a couple of times, add to rice cooker, add water up to required line. It does the rest! Have you checked the intructions just in case?

[Yuka82]

If you use popular brands of Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai rice, they don't stick no matter how you cook them. You have to ask for Japanese sticky rice and you can use anything to cook them and they will stick.

[fugue]

Yuka82 is correct.

[bossel]

If you use popular brands of Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai rice, they don't stick no matter how you cook them. You have to ask for Japanese sticky rice and you can use anything to cook them and they will stick.
The Chinese have also sticky rice, but it's not too common, I think. They use it only for special dishes. It's more expensive & looks different.
There is also some Turkish rice which is very sticky & some Japanese here in Germany use that because the Japanese rice is rather pricey.

If you want to have sticky rice, you have to buy the right variety. For what I know, it doesn't get sticky by preparing it in a special way.

[Yuka82]

That's why I said "popular brands". Unlike Koreans and Japanese, Chinese people don't eat sticky rice on a daily basis.

[bossel]

I didn't want to contradict you, just add a thought, Yuka. As I said: "They use it only for special dishes."

[neko_girl22]

For what I know, it doesn't get sticky by preparing it in a special way.

well you can certainly make it un-sticky by making it like my Aunty does..... :p

[Gaki]

I can tell the difference, it even bothers me when rice has been cooked with too much or too little water. :P

[Haivart]

If you mean brands of the same style or country, then no. If it's rice of different countries, then yes. I can tell the difference between basmati, Thai, Japanese-style, and the typical American rices.

[Maciamo]

If you mean brands of the same style or country, then no. If it's rice of different countries, then yes. I can tell the difference between basmati, Thai, Japanese-style, and the typical American rices.

Rachel meant rice brands, not varieties, so I suppose it is only valid for rice of the one same country (especially Japan).

[fugue]

Some people are confused about Japanese ``sticky rice.''

Japanese eat relatively more sticky medium grain rice on daily basis,
and there is also another still more sticky rice, called mochi-gome (餅米), that
you use to make rice cake. Japanese naturally don't consider their
regular rice sticky. Sticky rice for them is mochi-gome.

[Eternal Wind]

I like japan sticky rice...it tastes kinda different from original rice...
very...yummy!!... :D
can make sushi with it right?

[dreamer]

Depends on the rice for me...I can tell the difference between different kind of rices but brands... :souka:

[kirei_na_me]

And yes, I meant the difference between brands of Japanese rice.

For example, I think I think Kokuho Rose loses some of its shape after cooking and is maybe too sticky. Nishiki is pretty good all around, but I think it's less sticky than I prefer. To me, Tamaki is good in all areas. It has a good texture, which is not too firm, not too soft. It has just the right amount of sticky-ness and the individual grains don't lose their shape as much as the other two do.

I always cook my rice in a rice cooker, so it's done the same all the time. The same rice/water ratio every time. The same amount of cooking time. I believe I can tell a bigger difference when it's allowed to go the entire "regular" cycle instead of the "quick cook" cycle, though.

Then again, maybe all of this is in my imagination? :?

[dreamer]

Lol well I don't think I have enough experience to see the difference between 2 brands of rice :D
I can cook for myself but that's all. Beside I usually make ramen, pasta or cakes and for the rice we've been using the same brand for years now in the family :gohan:

[Hachiko]

In my opinion, rice is rice, as long as it tastes good, it fills you up, and never lets you down. I eat it every day. The Milagrosa/Calrose variety, that is.

[bossel]

Then again, maybe all of this is in my imagination? :?
Well, I couldn't tell the difference, but I don't think, it's only imagination. The companies very probably have different suppliers from different regions, maybe even slightly different rice varieties.
It's probably a bit like coffee, where you can tell the region where the coffee was grown from the taste of it. Although, this also depends on the handling/preparation after the harvest, which counts for rice as well.

[mdchachi]

> Then again, maybe all of this is in my imagination?

I doubt it. I'm sure your perceptions are valid though I imagine there might be differences between batches & crops within the same brand.

However I, personally, I couldn't tell. I mean, given two samples of rice I could tell you which I like better and why but since I'm not usually aware of which brand we're eating, I couldn't differentiate between brands.

We've switched to musenmai -- the rice that doesn't require washing. It's offered by a few different brands. Easier to prepare and better for the environment.

[NANGI]

Konnichiwa Mina-san!

There are two varieties, Indica rices and Japonica rices. Of course main rice of Japan is a Japonica. And Japanese rice brands are made by selective breeding from Japonica.

I can not tell the difference of brands, but I don't mind. I'm so indifferent to brands. :D

But I'm nervous about cooking. I don't like soft and sticky rice. :p

NANGI

[Eternal Wind]

Soft and sticky rice is fine with me!
I love all kinds of rice! it's yummy! good for health!
Eat more rice minna! :wave:

[kov]

I can definitely tell the difference, but I don't think I could identify them in a blind tasting. I could definitely rank them all blind, though.

The funny thing I've experienced is that I don't notice as much a quality shift when I shift "UP" -- i.e., go from eating a middle-priced brand to a high-priced brand. But when I shift back "DOWN" -- whoa, it's painfully noticeable.

As a student I ate Kokuho Rose. Now I realize that that stuff is horrid. The problem isn't that it's "too sticky", the problem is that it doesn't hold it's shape, so it just goes to mush too easily. Better brands have nice stickiness on the outside of the grain, but the grains themselves are firmer. They're also better filtered so you don't get as many broken and partial grains. And of course, they have a lot more flavor.

One note -- in terms of one person making yukky rice and another making it yummy; that's probably because somebody isn't rinsing the rice. That makes a big difference to me.

Finally, I must put a plug in for my favorite rice -- HITOMEBORE!!! The best rice around! My rankings go like this:

Worst. Kokuho Rose.
Okay. Nishiki
Good. Akita Komachi
Better. Tamaki
Best. Hitomebore

There's another popular one that I've had that I'd rank just above Kokuho Rose, but I don't remember the name.

[kov]

I do use a rice cooker , I heard that you do something with vinegar water or salt water or something, do you know any of this :P

No, it's the varietal of the rice that you want, as well as the treatment. Japanese rice is sticky because it's extremely fresh and has been bred for those characteristics. Jasmine rice (what you use, I recall) is a variant of basmati, and those styles are dried and aged. So when you cook jasmine it comes out dry and fluffy because it's starches have been altered through the aging process, and there's less "dust" on the outside of the grains too. Japanese rice hasn't been aged, so it comes out stickier.

The vinegar thing is different -- that's just the style for sushi rice. But don't mix the vinegar in until after the rice is cooked!

[kirei_na_me]

As a student I ate Kokuho Rose. The problem isn't that it's "too sticky", the problem is that it doesn't hold it's shape, so it just goes to mush too easily.

YES! That's it! That's exactly what it is. It doesn't hold it's shape and it gets mushy. That's exactly it. I guess when I said "too sticky", I was meaning gooey. Kokuho Rose is at the bottom of my list too.

One note -- in terms of one person making yukky rice and another making it yummy; that's probably because somebody isn't rinsing the rice. That makes a big difference to me.

Yep, another good point.

Finally, I must put a plug in for my favorite rice -- HITOMEBORE!!! The best rice around!

Where do you get it? As I recall you're in or around NYC? I usually get my rice at the generic "Asian" store not too far from here(they only have Nishiki and Kokuho Rose *sigh*), but I have ordered other rices from places like Katagiri. I haven't seen Hitomebore listed at Katagiri, though.

[yimija]

just don't try to make risotto with sticky rice.
* wanna be a good cook ?
* wanna be appreciated by your friends ?

well, better get down to knowing the difference between rizi arborio from Italy and sticky rice from Korea or shini rice from China. Or do you prefer Indian rice ?

No kirei_na_me, it's not in your head. rice grows out of the soil, just like human beings. And we are so many and so totally different !!!!

p.s. if you want the reipe for risotto (which one ??) just tell me... and buon appetito !

[kov]

Where do you get it (Hitomebore)? As I recall you're in or around NYC? I usually get my rice at the generic "Asian" store not too far from here(they only have Nishiki and Kokuho Rose *sigh*), but I have ordered other rices from places like Katagiri. I haven't seen Hitomebore listed at Katagiri, though.

We're in the E. Village so we have been getting it at JAS Mart on St. Marks Place. However, last time we went they said they were "out of stock". I have a funny feeling they stopped carrying it. When we were in Cambridge, MA we could get it fairly reliably at Porter Square -- Kotobukiya was the stores name, I think. It's hard to find here, we even went out to Yaohan in NJ (or whatever they're calling it these days) and they didn't have it. Then after we asked a couple times last summer at JAS Mart it started mysteriously appearing there. So we bought like 50 pounds at a time for fear of it disappearing again. I hope it's just out of stock and not disappeared.

[bezz]

http://www.gohan.ne.jp/hakase/seminar4/image/table.gif

[cathy]

:wave: Hi everyone.

I know many quality of international rice, and i like them all.

Couse it depend what dish i cook i choose the proper rice. Also, it dipend what time of the day i need to eat.

white-polished rise, for brekfast. Wild rice (well is not really a rice, but i use as rice dish),brown rice or non-polished rice, for after 1 pm till evening.

Brown rice and nonpolished rice any time in the afternoon and evenings.

I use sticky rice for: cakes, cookies, puddings, pies, candy, and other sweets. Even home made ice cream.

I also use white rice on bread making.

Although, i know the quality and texture of each rice, i don`t have preference. Like i sayed, it dipend the dish i am making.

[Lina Inverse]

I'm not quite sure there as I don't eat much rice, but I'd say I can tell the difference between the cheap stuff and the more expensive stuff.

[Golgo_13]

I can tell between Koshihikari, New Rose, Uncle Ben, Rice a Roni, Carolina and Minute Rice. That's about it.

[epigene]

How does Nishiki fare against other varieties? When I was in the US, I thought it was the closest thing there is to quality Japanese rice. (Well... that was a long time ago...:relief:) From what I heard, it is a variety similar to Sasanishiki in Japan.

In Japan, I like Koshihikari. :cool:

For fried rice and curry, I like to eat the long-grained (indica) rice from India and Thailand sold here in Tokyo. "Kaori-mai" (fragrant indica rice) is very fragrant and smells like popcorn. Yummm... :gohan:

[sabro]

I love sticky short grained rice. The brand is Botan Calrose-- that's all I know.

We get long grain and brown rice too. Neither works with Ume.

Doesn't Japan import tons of rice from the Sacramento valley?

[rakuten]

For my part it's quite easy to tell the difference because I eat rice very often. I think it's the same with any other kind of food, when you're "trained" it's easy to tell. I know of a guy who can tell apart different brands of mineral water (blind test), which I think is absolutely amazing.

[sabro]

In California, we have several pan-asian buffet type restaurants. They are pretty good and very cheap. They have a chinese buffet, a mongolian barbeque and a sushi bar. But rice fans beware: they use the wrong rice. I don't know how or why, but it is wrong.

[Faustianideals]

I've been eating the sticky rice lately. Does it matter what kind it is, or is it just the way you cook it.

[lexico]

I really believe, or at least I think, Tamaki is better than any other brand of rice I've used. I've used Kokuho Rose, Nishiki, and Tamaki.

So, do you think it's all in my head that Tamaki is better than the other two, or do you think it's possible for one brand of rice to be better than the other? Do you prefer one brand of rice over the other?Well, you may be right, kirei_na_me, but I happen to think that it all depends on the rice cooker.

Try one of those pressurized ones, and the taste between brands is virtually indistinguishable to my humble palate!

But then again, I'm not that picky! :ramen:

[den4]

I can tell the difference between Thai rice, Japanese rice and rice that's been cooked badly, ie: when it comes out like glue, too watery, or like rice krispy treats...:D
I've had rots and rots of experience of the glue and watery type when dining at the university dining halls we were forced to eat at during my college days...and the sad thing is the rice always tasted like it had metallic flavorings added :p
they never did get it quite right.....I hate dorm food! :D

[JHTAURO]

Well,

I work for Japanese Market Chain in California and the nest type of rice now is Koshihikari Variety.

You mention 3 Brands od rice, Kokuho Rose and Nishiki are M401 Mid size grain rice and Tamaki (IF is Tamaki Gold) is Koshihikari Variety, the most popular variety in Japan.

We have 3 different types of japanese rice in US:

Calrose (Botan & Shirakiku)
M401 (Nishiki, Kokuho Rose, Hikari)
Short Grain (Koshihikari, Hitomebore, Akita Komachi and Sasanishiki)

The most famous rice in Japan is Koshihikari Uonumasan, here in US you can find it for $30.00 (2Kg Bag)

Hope this can help you.

[SushiShin]

well, if im blindfolded and they put a bowl of rice from india or a bowl rice from somewhere else, i think i won't taste the difference but when i feel the rice (i mean the length then i can separate them and say this is this and that is that)

[pipokun]

松下電器産業が冷蔵庫と炊飯器の最高級モデル開発、２ 月発売へ
新型炊飯器「ＳＶシリーズ」は、内釜外側の素材にスペースシャトルにも使われる硬くて断熱性の高い中空セラミ ックを採用。
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/economy/business/071210/biz0712101845001-n1.htm

Matsushita selling high-end rice cookers in February
The high-end rice cooker, SV series, uses the same heat shield material as in space shuttles.

SR-SV101
http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/jn071210-2/jn071210-2-1.jpg

Retail price: About 115,000JPY

Wondering what would be the next after the space-age cooker...
But I still believe cooking rice by earthenware pot, donabe, is the best, though I do not always cook rice with donabe.

[leonmarino]

But I still believe cooking rice by earthenware pot, donabe, is the best, though I do not always cook rice with donabe.I used to prefer simple pots too, but I find the convenience of a rice cooker a temptation that I have been unable to resist the last couple of monts.. :relief:

Anyways, I can taste the difference!! I just switched to another brand the other day.. It sucks!! I would have like it if I wouldn't have been spoiled by the more expensive brands I had been buying for some reason.. :(

Ah well, hopefully I'll get used to this taste.. In the meantime, I'll use Trehalose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trehalose) to improve the taste. :-)

[Dogen Z]

While I was living in California, I ate mostly calrose rice. It tasted fine to me and I thought the hype about Japanese rice being better was just propaganda. However, one day, a neighbor gave me a riceball (onigiri) made with expensive Japanese rice. I could tell the difference right away! It was sweeter and sort of plumper (is that a word?). I then understood why Japanese prefer their own kind of rice. It's not just PR.

That said, I would buy the way cheaper calrose rice, if it were available in Japan now.
********************

A tortoise is lying on its back, with its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs to turn over, but it can't. And you're not helping. Why is that?

[pipokun]

...
In the meantime, I'll use Trehalose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trehalose) to improve the taste. :-)

I heard a small company somewhere in Hiroshima or Okawama developed a cheap way to produce trehalose, but just add 1 tsp honey for 2 cup rice when you soak rice in water.

[yamahaR1]

I'm not an expert, but our household eats a lot of rice daily since we are ASIANS (from the Philippines).....we cook it with the right amount of water on a rice cooker so that it's not too soggy and not too dry.....I'll look later at some brands that we've tried and I'll post them on this thread later

[tokapi]

I have preference for Japanese soft & sticky rice.:-)

[joaniedark]

I can't tell the difference between brands, but I can tell the difference between origin countries. If I'm having plain rice, I prefer the kind from India, for example, though it is not at all suitable for sushi or sticky rice.

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I can tell the difference between the different varieties of rice, but i do find difficulty in telling difference between the taste of different brands of rice.

Since the cooking of rice has been raised in this thread, i would like to comment on a few things;

1.a. Now days you do not have to wash rice, people did this in the olden days when it was often quite dirty/dusty, but now days almost all rice sold in shops is pre-cleaned and so there is no need to wash it yourself after buying it- i've also heard that washing pre-washed rice can also make it loose some of its nutrients.

1.b. I used to have difficulty cooking rice in the past, but i would say i am pretty good at cooking it now i have honed my methods to better perfection.
My way of cooking rice;

a. Measure out 100ml's of rice- 100ml's/1 cup of rice equals one decent sized portion roughly.

b. Get your saucepan- the more surface area it has on the bottom the better. Put a tiny amount of oil (i personally use olive oil) in the bottom of the pan- this will help prevent the rice sticking to the bottom of the pan and also help flavor it. If you want, you can also add a small handful of finely chopped white onion.

c. Heat the pan up to a medium to high heat- if you've added chopped onion, fry it in the small amount of oil in the pan until it starts to soften, then add the rice and stir the rice in the pan to help coat it in oil. If you are not using onion, then as soon as the pan is hot enough, just stir the rice in the oil to coat it in the oil.

d. Once you've done this add cold water to the rice- the amount of water you use depends on the amount of rice you are cooking, generally speaking, you should use twice as much water as you use rice (so 100mls of rice needs 200mls of water).

e. As soon as you've added the water, turn the heat on the hob down to the lowest setting and put the lid on the pan.

f. After you've done this, just leave the rice alone to let it cook.
Try and refrain from stirring the rice like you would with pasta- the steam/heat which builds up in the saucepan once the lid on it has been put on and the temp has been turned down on the hob is crucial to cooking the rice well (and preventing it from drying out), so if you take the lid off you will loose a lot of this important steam.
Also, rice releases starch easily when it is stirred, and if you stir it while cooking it will release a lot of starch which will make the rice stick together in a bad and un-tasty way.
As long as you use the right amount of water and cook the rice on the right heat (and use a little oil too), it should not stick to the bottom of the pan even when the rice has absorbed almost all of the water.

g. How long the rice takes to cook depends on the variety. Basimati (sp?) rice can take as little as 15mins to cook, while short grain rices can take as long as 30mins to cook.

h. When the rice looks cooked enough, remove the pan from the heat and fluff up the rice with a spoon (preferably wooden) and leave it to steam/cool off in the pan a bit with the lid taken off the pan for about 10mins. Then serve :cool: .

i. I found a lot of difficulty finding Japanese varieties of rice where i live, however i have found that risotto rice makes a good substitute for short grain Japanese white sticky rice.
If you want to make sushi, its vital you use a sticky rice (short grain white risotto rice can be used if you can't find any Japanese rice) and you will need to add a special warm rice wine vinegar solution (i think it has salt and sugar in it, i have a recipe for it somewhere) to the rice after its cooked to help give it a glossy look and authentic flavor.

[bdiego]

Well, as I'm waiting for my nikujaga to cook down, I was thinking about different brands of rice. I know a lot of people say that they can't tell the difference between different brands of rices and that people who claim that some brands of rice are better than others are just plain foolish.
Take me, for example. I really believe, or at least I think, Tamaki is better than any other brand of rice I've used. I've used Kokuho Rose, Nishiki, and Tamaki.
So, do you think it's all in my head that Tamaki is better than the other two, or do you think it's possible for one brand of rice to be better than the other? Do you prefer one brand of rice over the other?

I think we're conflating multiple topics here. Everyone can tell the difference between basmatii rice and tamaki rice - the two species are completely different in size, shape, and texture. Try eating indian curry with tamaki rice, versus gyudon with basmatii rice and tell me it doesn't matter. That's the difference between two *distant species* of rice. Nobody should be claiming that black wild rice is the same as any other rice. The nutrition content and flavor is completely different and scientifically proven.

Whereas on the other extreme, some people will claim that there is no difference between two different producers of the exact same species of rice, or a very similar species of rice (i.e. siblings rather than distant cousins). I can see how some people may believe this regardless of facts, because it's really a question of degree. But there can be important differences.

To use a Western example, it would be like saying there's no difference in wheat. In reality, it is scientifically proven and common industrial knowledge that the exact same species of wheat grown in the exact same plot of dirt will vary tremendously in gluten content depending on the season grown. So the same farm that produces two or three harvests of wheat will produce both high gluten wheat and low gluten wheat. The high gluten wheat will make awesome bagels, and the low gluten wheat will make horrible bagels. And yes as a matter of fact you can taste the difference, and you can chemically prove it.

People who deny that not all wheat was created equal probably have never been on a farm and probably also think pigs will never try to mate with the same gender. The absence of personal knowledge to the contrary isn't really meaningful when the facts are common and provable knowledge to people making and consuming these products.

Take sticky rice for example. It's actually sticky, and much sweeter than regular rice. You can see it for yourself. Even cooked plain, a blind taste test quickly verifies the difference. Try making a chimaki with regular rice and it would suck if you know the real thing - the texture, the sweetness, the overall flavor.

So giving people the benefit of the doubt, what they're probably actually talking about is the distinction between the same species of rice - for example grown in Japan vs. grown in China. I'd say the difference would be fairly small, although still in that case safety and contamination is a factor. Consistency of the grain and proper storage is also paramount, which is more a function of handling than growing. Again to say there's no difference is simply puzzling. But I guess the Burmese government had no trouble passing off moldy crumbling rice as perfectly edible. =)

What is true is if you buy "new harvest Akita rice", you're going to pay a premium and have some difficulty justifying the expense. That's especially the case for people who see it from a Chinese department store where the markup is 8x from the price you'd find in Japan. Though in that case, it's more a novelty item or luxury akin to drinking tea out of fancy cups and plates - a premium simply will exist for that. That said, for the average person the real better rice isn't that much more expensive. Some places do try to put special branding names to make good rice seem better than it is, but that doesn't mean there isn't a difference between good and bad rice or rice species.

[bdiego]

Just to add, I've personally grown and harvested rice as a hobby. As a kid, my parents laughed at me when I suggested we eat it for dinner - all twenty grains.

Let it be known that that rice was an example bad rice - harvested too soon. Some places will produce nothing but bad rice, simply because of weather/sun problems that harvest. If it's China, they will definitely package it as rice and it's edible but that doesn't mean there isn't a difference.

Grow bad rice yourself and eat it if you want to prove me wrong. It's easier than it sounds!=)

[bdiego]

While I was living in California, I ate mostly calrose rice. It tasted fine to me and I thought the hype about Japanese rice being better was just propaganda. However, one day, a neighbor gave me a riceball (onigiri) made with expensive Japanese rice. I could tell the difference right away! It was sweeter and sort of plumper (is that a word?). I then understood why Japanese prefer their own kind of rice. It's not just PR.
That said, I would buy the way cheaper calrose rice, if it were available in Japan now.
********************
A tortoise is lying on its back, with its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs to turn over, but it can't. And you're not helping. Why is that?

This is an example of a big difference in rice, but a lot of it is due to the calrose rice species. Calrose was engineered to grow with less moisture requirements than typical Japanese rice, hence that's what we grow in California. So it's both species and moisture - growing Calrose in Japan makes as much sense as growing cactus in the tropics but if you did it the Calrose would still taste different than Japanese rice but not as much.

I never considered that Japanese have their "own rice". Calrose is a relatively modern rice designed to be cheap and grown where traditional rice won't grow. It's stickier which let's you make budget sushi rice and chimaki, something you wouldn't do with standard Japanese rice. They use their own version of Calrose for that - in Chinese that word translates to Calrose. =)

[zygon]

I can tell some difference between different kind of rices but brands