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Japanese rice refers to a number of short-grain cultivars of Japonica rice including ordinary rice ( uruchimai) and glutinous rice ( mochigome).
Ordinary Japanese rice, or uruchimai 2=粳米, is the staple of the Japanese diet and consists of short translucent grains. When cooked, it has a sticky texture such that it can easily be picked up and eaten with chopsticks. Outside Japan, it is sometimes labeled sushi rice, as this is one of its common uses. It is also used to produce sake.
Glutinous rice, known in Japan as mochigome 2=もち米, is used for making mochi 2=餅, Okowa, and special dishes such as sekihan. It is a short-grain rice, and it can be distinguished from uruchimai by its particularly short, round, opaque grains, its greater stickiness when cooked, and firmer and chewier texture.
In Hokkaidō, Japan's northernmost prefecture, hardier cultivars such as Oborozuki and Yumepirika have been developed to withstand the colder climate.
Calrose is the name used originally for a medium-grain Japonica cultivar developed in 1948, and now as a generic term for California medium grain Japonicas. While not true Japanese rice, Calrose-type rice has been grown by Japanese American producers in California for many years. It is commonly used to prepare Japanese cuisine in North America, and is reasonably good as a sushi rice. It is also exported to a number of countries including Japan, although it has not gained much popularity with Japanese consumers. In recent years, Koshihikari rice is also being grown in the US and Australia.
3=Hatsuga genmai is brown rice that has been soaked in heated water until germinated. It is also known as GABA rice, as the germination process greatly increases its GABA content. It has a softer texture than ordinary brown rice and a pleasant fragrance. It is sold in Japanese supermarkets, but it can also be made at home. Some high-end rice cookers have a GABA rice setting to automate the process.
Haigamai is rice that has been partially milled to remove most of the bran but leave the germ intact. It takes less time to cook than brown rice but retains more of the vitamins than white rice.
Coin-operated automated rice polishing machines, called , for polishing brown rice, are a common sight in rural Japan. The rice polishing machines typically polish a amount for 100 yen. The by-product of the polishing process, rice bran 4= komenuka is used commercially as the source of rice bran oil. It may also be used for making a kind of pickle called nukazuke (ぬかづけ), as an organic fertilizer, and in livestock feed.
Most supermarkets in Japan sell ready-polished rice in , , and smaller bags. Brown rice is usually sold in bags, which may be generally polished by the consumer in a coin-operated polishing machine, or in smaller bags in supermarkets intended for eating as brown rice.
Musenmai 4='no-wash rice' or 'pre-washed' rice is white rice which has been further processed to remove a sticky coating called the hada nuka 2=肌糠, or skin bran, which is normally removed by rinsing the rice prior to cooking for better taste and aroma. The manufacturing process involves tumbling the rice in a tube for a short duration, causing the bran to stick to the sides of the tube. The process notably does not use water, which is significant because water from rinsing rice is a big contributor of water pollution in Japan.
Examples of simple breakfast dishes include plain rice mixed with raw egg and optional soy sauce, known as tamago kake gohan, and plain rice with nattō. Plain rice is used in yōshoku dishes such as Japanese curry, omurice, and doria. Leftover plain rice is often reused for ochazuke 4=rice with green tea or fried rice 4=fried rice.
Takikomi gohan is made with ordinary rice which is cooked together with vegetables, meat, or fish seasoned with dashi and soy sauce.
Uruchimai is also used to make alcoholic drinks like sake, and sometimes shochu, as an adjunct in Japanese beer, and to make rice vinegar.
Uncooked brown rice grains are mixed with green tea leaves and used to brew a kind of tea called genmaicha 4=brown rice tea.
Glutinous rice, known in Japan as mochigome, is used for making mochi, the festive red bean and rice dish sekihan, as well as traditional snacks such as senbei 2=煎餅, arare 2=あられ, and agemochi 2=揚げ餅.
Most modern rice cookers include a cooking-delay timer, so that rice placed in the cooker at night will be ready for the morning meal. The rice cooker can also keep rice moist and warm, allowing it to remain edible for several hours after cooking.
Prepared rice is usually served from the rice cooker into a chawan, or rice bowl.
After cooking, rice may also be held in a covered wooden box called an ohitsu.
The Tokyo Grain Exchange was founded in 1952 in the same location as the Kakigaracho Rice Trading Exchange, established in 1874. , two varieties of Japanese rice were in consideration for standardization of the contract.
In order to fulfill self-sufficiency goals in Japan and to support domestic rice producers, the Japanese government enforces quotas and high Tariff on foreign rice. As a result, most rice consumed in Japan is domestically produced. However, price increases in recent years have led a small but increasing number of Japanese consumers and restaurants to seek out less expensive rice imported from China, Australia, and the US.
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