Global rice varieties

There are three broad groups of rice: short-grain, medium-grain, and long-grain. Short-grain rice is the most commonly consumed in Japan and is mostly Japonica rice. Medium-grain is rice that is medium in length such as Calrose rice. Long-grain rice is long and thin like rice eaten in Thailand, and known as Indica rice.

In general, short-grain rice is best suited for sushi. It is soft and sticky* and keeps its shape when cooked. Further, it has more taste the more you chew, and also has a sweetness to it. Japan’s rice crop comes from rice paddies. Medium-grain rice such as Calrose rice is mainly grown in upland and dry areas in places like America and Australia. Through selective breeding, medium-grain rice has become glossy when cooked and can now be used for sushi. On the other hand, long-grain rice like Indica is not sticky enough and cannot be used for sushi rice. It is suitable to be mixed with sauces or in dishes where the flavor is added like fried rice.

*There are two types of starch in rice: Amylose and Amylopectin. Amylopectin is what makes rice sticky when it’s been cooked. The Amylopectin content of Japonica rice is high at approximately 80%. On the other hand, Indica rice is low at 70%, so it is less sticky.

 

Japanese rice varieties

Currently, there are about 600 varieties of rice registered domestically in Japan, and about 260 varieties are produced as a staple food. If you consider just crops, the top 10 varieties occupy almost 80% of the total crop area. Of those, Koshihikari (コシヒカリ) takes up an impressive 30%. The next is Hitomebore (ひとめぼれ) at 9.4%. After that is Hinohikari (ひのひかり) with 8.9%. Akitakomachi (あきたこまち) is 7.0%. Nanatsuboshi (ななつぼし) is at 3.5% and the top 5 have not changed for the past few years. These varieties are the types of rice that consumers to eat at home.

 

Varieties of sushi rice

On the other hand, the usual rice types for sushi are Sasanishiki (ササニシキ), Hatsushimo (ハツシモ), and Koshihikari (コシヒカリ). However, Sasanishiki only takes up 1/20 the space compared to its peak when it shared the top 2 spots with Koshikari, and Hatsushimo, which is less commonly seen, has become known as the “rice of dreams.”

In general, Koshihikari is sticky with a stronger density, it is plump with a good luster when cooked. This quality and its taste have earned it the top reputation among sushi chefs. Sasanishiki has a soft texture with a shine on each individual grain. When cooked, it has a glossy and wet finish. The stickiness, texture and sweetness are suitable for sushi. Hatsushimo has a slightly larger grain so it is a bit chewier and it can be stored for relatively long periods of time after harvesting without losing its flavor. Koshikari boasts the same features, but it can be firmer when produced in places with a large gap between cold and warm seasons, and the product from the same location can be different in flavor, smell and texture depending on the field. If you think about it, that is exactly what you would expect.

 

What is koshihikari?

Koshihikari is the most popular brand of rice in Japan, known for having delicious rice. The secret of koshihikari’s popularity is the delicious flavor that goes well with every type of food and its characteristics include a soft and stickiness, a sweetness, beautiful polish, rich fragrance, and it doesn’t harden easily after cooling.

Koshihikari was born 70 years ago in Niigata and Fukui prefectures. At the time, there was a food shortage in Japan and there was a need for products with high yields. However, koshihikari is tall, collapses easily, and is vulnerable to disease, so it wasn’t cultivated much at the beginning. However, researchers and farmers worked on cultivation methods, resulting in the ability to grow it in broad regions, and with the backing of the change in Japanese food culture, koshihikari became popular as ‘delicious rice’.

Nowadays koshihikari is grown all over Japan from Tohoku to southern Kyushu. The yield accounts for more than 1/3 of the entire rice industry, making it the most-made product in Japan. The most popular rice products are a combination of koshihikari and other varieties. Now with the Japanese food boom overseas, koshihikari is also cultivated in the U.S., Thailand, Italy and other countries.

The name comes from “koshi” which comes from the character “越” and is the first character of “Echizen (越前)”, the old name for Fukui prefecture and also the first character for “Echigo (越後)”, which is the old name for Niigata Prefecture. “Hikari” means “light” and apparently comes from the hope that the future of Niigata’s agriculture will “shine like a brilliant light”.

 

Unique know-how is crucial for each rice type

Further, rice is said to be the most delicious when it is fresh (for about 3 months after it has been harvested in September). But in some cases instead of fresh rice, rice that has been stored for over a year after harvesting is used intentionally. This is usually called “old rice,” but this doesn’t mean it has reduced quality. It will have been stored in a temperature and humidity-controlled warehouse, waiting until it is optimum to be used as sushi rice. Still, other sushi restaurants may favor a blend of multiple varieties or mix old and new rice.

 

What is a rice taste ranking?

The Japan Grain Inspection Association creates a rating based on taste tests conducted every year for the purpose of improving and popularizing Japanese rice. The rating is based on 6 aspects of cooked rice: exterior appearance, smell, taste, stickiness, hardness, and overall evaluation. A blend of rice including Koshihikari from multiple locations that year is used as a standard grain for comparison. The rice is given grades according to the overall evaluation. Superior rice is A+, good rice is A, rice that meets the quality of the standard grain is A’. Rice that is slightly worse than standard is B, and lower than that is B’. However, these are the tastes of the judges and taste is subjective, so what the judges believe is delicious and what is not is really just opinion.

 

What types of rice is preferred by sushi chefs?

In the end, the variety of rice is important, but assuming that quality also depends on its origin and producer, we asked what rice variety one well-known sushi restaurant used. Their invaluable responses were Hitomebore (A+), Tsuyahime (A+), Akitakomachi (A+), Koshihikari (A+), and Sasanishiki (A’). It is decent to consider brands like Koshihikari, Sasanishiki, and Tsuyahime are the best rice for sushi. 

We’ve said this before, but in general, the best rice for nigiri sushi has very little stickiness and is made to be smooth and on the harder side so the vinegar blends in well and the rice comes apart, spreading through your mouth. Therefore, the light-flavored Sasanishiki is preferred due to being less sticky, as opposed to Koshihikari, which is sticky and has a stronger flavor. Strangely enough, however, while Koshihikari and Sasanishiki at opposite ends of the spectrum, they are both valued by sushi chefs. In other words, no matter what rice is used, the sushi chef has control. Methods for control include adjustments to water hardness, the amount of water, polishing time and cooking time.

 

Let’s take a deeper look at the following five types of rice.

Hitomebore (ひとめぼれ)

Hitomebore was developed in Miyagi prefecture in 1981. This product was made by crossbreeding Koshihikari and Hatsuboshi, with the goal of developing a rice with excellent flavor and resistance to the cold. It became popular as an alternative rice to Sasanishiki when Sasanishiki suffered catastrophic damages due to cold weather damage and in 1994 it took the second place position to Koshihikari for acreage used for cultivation in Japan.

While it retains the taste and texture of Koshihikari, it doesn’t have the clear, strong flavor of Koshihikari and instead has a gentler flavor. However, it also doesn’t have the refreshing impression of Akitakomachi and Sasanishiki, but instead is considered to be a perfectly balanced rice. In other words, there is a lot of flexibility in deciding the flavor of sushi rice. Hitomebore is a very popular rice not only for general consumers but also for restaurants and other businesses. Hitomebore is used in places like Higashiazabu Amamoto (東麻布 天本) and others.

 

Tsuyahime (つや姫)

Tsuyahime was developed in Yamagata over about a 10-year period starting in 1998. It was born from its father, Tohoku No. 164, and mother, Yamagata No. 70. It is very popular for its delicious flavor, which is said to be even better than Koshihikari (the king of Japanese rice), and production outside of Yamagata Prefecture is also expanding.

Needless to say, the characteristics of that flavor include sweetness and umami, and the well-balanced taste from rice attributes like the texture in your mouth and stickiness. The content of umami components such as Glutamic acid and Aspartic acid is extremely high–even higher than Koshihikari, which is a synonym for delicious rice. Furthermore, the appealing appearance of the whiteness and luster of the cooked rice has an established reputation leading to it gaining popularity as a beautiful and delicious rice. On the other hand, because of this strong sweetness and stickiness, it is not suitable for dishes in which flavor is added to the rice such as fried rice and paella.

According to sushi chefs who use Tsuyahime, the umami of this rice is on another level. We’ve heard that even newly harvested rice may be used to maximize the umami. Another reason for the support could be that there is very little variation in rice kernel size. Tsuyahime is used by Sushi Yuu (鮨 由う), Takagaki-no-Sushi (高柿の鮨), Sushi Hashimoto (鮨 はしもと), Sushizen Ginza (すし善 銀座店), Kurosaki (くろ﨑), etc.

 

Sasanishiki (ササニシキ)

Sasanishiki is a rice developed in Miyagi Prefecture in 1963. Hatsunishiki and Sasashigure are its parents, and Koshihikari is a hereditary sibling breed. However, in recent years it has barely been ranked in cultivation acreage, dropping to only 1% of the rice farming space in all of Japan.

Since Japanese food inherently has many simple dishes with light flavors, a refreshing, elegant flavor like that of Sasanishiki, which doesn’t have a strong assertion in itself, but brings out the flavor of the dishes, is preferred. Sasanishiki has a low lipid content and is not sticky compared to Koshihikari, so as a sushi rice it comes apart easily in your mouth and it also has a nice aftertaste. Therefore, it continues to be used at high-quality Japanese restaurants and sushi restaurants even now, despite the decrease in production volume. On the other hand, since it is not as resistant to degradation and oxidation as Koshihikari is, the period of time it can be used after harvest is much shorter. Sasanishiki is used by Sushi Matsu and other restaurants.

 

Akitakomachi (あきたこまち)

Akitakomachi is a relatively long-standing variety and was developed in 1984. It is a cross between the Japanese rice king Koshihikari and Ou No. 292 and has inherited the good taste of Koshihikari.

It has a good flavor, stickiness, and a soft, sticky texture. It is said to be a perfect rice with the extremely balanced umami, sweetness, stickiness and chewiness. Another characteristic is that water content is higher than other rices so it is delicious not only freshly cooked, but also even after it cools. Also, the cross section of the grains of rice is pretty, creating a beautiful aesthetic when used in Nori-maki. Akitakomachi is used at restaurants such as Sushi Saito (鮨 さいとう), Jizou-sushi (地蔵鮓) and Sushi Fukumoto (鮨 福元).

 

Koshihikari (コシヒカリ)

Koshihikari is grown in 43 prefectures throughout the country, which is all prefectures except for Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita and Iwate. It has been over 60 years since it first came onto the scene in 1956, but it is still the top seller and accounts for 1/3 of the rice farming acreage in the country.

Its distinguishable characteristic is the delicious taste. The beauty of the freshly cooked luster, the strong stickiness, fragrance, etc., make this rice a synonym with “delicious”. The rice has such a strong sweetness that even the steam that rises from the hot rice has a sweet fragrance. The sweetness is especially strong when you bite into it. That’s why some have been active in developing new varieties that incorporate the delicious flavor of Koshihikari such as Akitakomachi, Haenuki, Hitomebore and Tsugaruroman.

Sushi chefs order Koshihikari, which is suitable for sushi rice from farmers in specific areas such as Niigata, Toyama, Ibaraki and Miyagi. Apparently long-stored rice with small, round kernels that has been sundried (dried naturally) is considered to be good. Compared with other varieties, there is very little degradation even after a long storage period and little oxidation in the fatty acids contained in the rice. Basically, sushi chefs like it because it can be used for a long period of time. Koshihikari is used at many sushi restaurants, including Kizushi (㐂寿司), Sawada (さわ田), Sushi Keita (鮨桂太), Sushi Arai (鮨 あらい), Sushi Hashimoto (鮨 はしもと), Harutaka (青空), Nishiazabu-Taku (西麻布 拓) , Sushi Mitsukawa (鮨みつ川), Otomezushi (乙女寿司) and Sushi Masashi (鮨 将司).

 

Emergence of New Rice Varieties

In recent years, rice varieties have been improved over a long period in various regions of Japan to suit each region’s climate and soil, aiming to achieve good taste and ease of cultivation. As a result, new rice varieties are debuting every year.

A search of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ variety registration database shows that 16 new rice varieties were registered in 2020. Looking at the three years from 2018 to 2020, there are 52 varieties, with an average of about 17 new varieties approved annually in recent years.

In the future, we may see different varieties of rice depending on the sushi toppings, just as we choose sake depending on the cuisine. Just as sushi chefs use different vinegars for different sushi toppings, we may see sushi chefs using different varieties of rice. Or perhaps they are already practicing it.

So here are five notable new rice varieties that are beginning to be used in sushi restaurants. We would like to ask you to update this information from the days when the most popular brands for sushi were Sasanishiki, Koshihikari, and Hatsushimo.

Incidentally, it is said that there are five main elements by which the general public classifies rice characteristics: stickiness, hardness, sweetness, aroma, and gloss. Of these, the three elements that particularly divide preferences are stickiness, hardness, and sweetness. The main component of rice is carbohydrates such as amylose and amylopectin. A high amylose content is said to result in a dry texture, while a high amylopectin content results in a chewy texture. For example, if you use rice hardness as an indicator for rice selection, keep in mind that rice can be divided into the following three groups. For sushi chefs, gloss, especially whiteness, maybe a non-negotiable item.

 

1.Sticky and more filling type

Koshihikari  (コシヒカリ)

Milky queen(ミルキークイーン)

Yumegokochi (夢ごこち)

Oborozuki (おぼろづき)

Yukimusubi (ゆきむすび)

Yumepirika (ゆめぴりか)

Hinohikari (ヒノヒカリ)

Haenuki (はえぬき)

Ryunohitomi (龍の瞳)

Hatsushimo (ハツシモ)

Eminokizuna (笑みの絆)

 

2.The type that can be hard or soft depending on the cooking method and amount of water

Akitakomachi (あきたこまち)

Koshiibuki (こしいぶき)

Sagabiyori (さがびより)

Donpishari (どんぴしゃり)

Nikomaru (にこまる)

Genkitsukushi (元気つくし)

Kumasannnochikara  (くまさんの力)

Sainokagayaki (彩のかがやき)

 

3.The type that can be cooked softly

Sasanishiki (ササニシキ)

Domannaka (どまんなか)

Hitomebore (ひとめぼれ)

Tsuyahime (つや姫)

Yumeshizuku (夢しずく)

Fsakogane (ふさこがね)

Yumeobako (ゆめおばこ)

Fukkurinko (ふっくりんこ)

Nanatsuboshi (ななつぼし)

Seitennohekireki (青天の霹靂)

 

A closer look at five new varieties that are starting to be used at sushi restaurants

 

Nanatsuboshi (ななつぼし)

Nanatsuboshi is a hybrid of Hitomebore, adopted in 2001 as a superior variety in Hokkaido. It accounts for about half of Hokkaido’s rice acreage. It has a soft texture (low protein content), gloss (sufficient water retention film), stickiness (low amylose content), firmness, and sweetness. It is comparable to Koshihikari (コシヒカリ), Sasanishiki (ササニシキ), and Hitomebore (ひとめぼれ) in terms of the taste of freshly cooked rice. For this reason, it is increasingly used in sushi restaurants.

It also has the characteristic of retaining its stickiness over time. It is used for daily rice, bento boxes, and omusubi (rice balls), and its light texture makes it a perfect complement to side dishes.

 

Seitennohekireki (青天の霹靂)

Seitennohekireki is a variety developed in Aomori Prefecture and fully marketed in 2015. It inherits the good taste of Hitomebore (ひとめぼれ) and other varieties. Koshihikari (コシヒカリ) is a variety planted throughout Japan, but its northern limit is said to be Yamagata Prefecture.

In Aomori and Hokkaido, cultivation is quite difficult. For this reason, Aomori Prefecture has been actively cultivating varieties suited to its climate since the Meiji era (1868-1912), when the prefectural agricultural experiment station was established, by creating new varieties from existing ones.

Seitennohekireki is the result of these years of effort. It was named in the hope that it would be as vivid as a bolt of lightning suddenly appearing in a clear sky. The grains are rather large and firm in texture.  And it is plump and slowly spreads sweetness.

The Seitennohekireki Branding Promotion Council has established detailed cultivation standards and production targets and has restricted plantings to growers who have agreed to all of the Seitennohekireki shipping standards and to cooperate with unified pickups.

 

Nikomaru (にこまる)

Nikomaru is a rice variety registered in 2008. It is the winner of the 2010 Japan’s Best Rice Contest. Considering the problem of rice quality deterioration due to global warming and typhoons, the Kyushu-Okinawa Operation Research Center developed this variety as “delicious rice that can withstand the heat.

It is also characterized by less white unripe grains and less quality deterioration even under high temperature conditions, and its yield is nearly 10% higher than that of Hinohikari. It was named Nikomaru for its rounded grains and smile-inducing taste. Its parents are a delicious strain descended from Koshihikari, and Nikomaru is a variety that inherits the best aspects of its parents. It is produced in warm regions such as Kyushu, Shikoku, and Shizuoka.

It can be harvested later in the season than Hinohikari, which is popular in western Japan and has been attracting attention, with Nagasaki and Kochi rice varieties winning consecutive “Special A” rankings for eating quality.

The main characteristic of this rice is its beautiful gloss after cooking. The grains are uniform in size, and each firm grain has an umami flavor. It has good luster, is more tenacious than Koshihikari (コシヒカリ), and is resistant to heat. It does not harden easily when cold, making it ideal for lunch boxes, rice balls, and takikomi-gohan (rice seasoned and cooked with various ingredients). Recently, Nikomaru has been rapidly increasing in acreage and is a type of rice that has attracted the attention of sushi chefs and Japanese food artisans.

 

Eminokizuna (笑みの絆)

Eminokizuna, registered in 2014, is a line bred from Hatsushimo (ハツシモ), a less sticky, good-tasting variety, to breed good-tasting varieties that do not rely on stickiness. It is also a high temperature tolerant variety, showing excellent brown rice quality even under the high temperature conditions of recent years.

It is superior to Sasanishiki (ササニシキ) in terms of smoothness, but is easier to unravel and less sticky than Sasanishiki. Hardness is harder than Sasanishiki and Koshihikari old rice, and overall it is superior to Sasanishiki and Hatsuhsimo, a paddy rice variety developed for sushi.

It absorbs the combined vinegar well, finishes fluffy, has moderate stickiness, does not crumble when held, and loosens smoothly when eaten.

 

Ginganoshizuku (銀河のしずく)

Ginganoshizuku is a rice variety registered in 2016. It is a glossy rice that cooks and finishes white. It is characterized by a well-balanced taste that combines large grains, good stickiness, and a light texture.

This rice is outstandingly white, glossy, and transparent among Iwate rice. It is also characterized by a taste that does not change even when cold. For sushi chefs, white rice is the highest priority.

 

Ryunohitomi (龍の瞳)

Ryunohitomi is the highest grade of Inochinoichi (いのちの壱) rice and is a rare rice that only contract farmers who have faithfully followed the original manual and passed strict inspections are allowed to call themselves Ryunohitomi. Ryunohitomi is not a rice variety, but a product name. Because it is difficult to cultivate and its production is small, it is not easily seen in supermarkets and is not readily available.

In September 2000, Takashi Imai, a farmer in Gero City, Gifu Prefecture, discovered two distinctly different strains of Koshihikari rice in his rice paddy, separated them, and harvested them after repeated trial cultivation. The rice has extremely high water absorbency and should be cooked with less water.

The grain size is about 1.5 times larger than that of Koshihikari, and it is sticky, elastic, and fragrant. And the sweetness that can be firmly felt is its greatest feature. On top of that, the taste does not deteriorate even if the rice is reheated after it has cooled down, which is the Best of both worlds.

 

Rice blending to bring out the best flavor

Like blending coffee, rice blending is a technique for making rice taste better by combining different varieties, regions, and production years. By combining, there are many possibilities to enjoy the different characteristics of each type of rice, to transform rice that tasted weak into something delicious, or to personalize it to your own taste. If you are particular about your rice, one way to enjoy it is with the right blend.

However, it is difficult to create a delicious blend of rice if you try to match the rice appropriately. For example, combining 70% sticky rice with 30% light rice will eliminate excess stickiness and make the rice easier to eat. Also, when 70% old rice is combined with 30% new rice, the old rice’s crumbliness and peculiar smell disappear, and the oldness is no longer bothersome.

Therefore, sushi restaurants used to use a golden blend of 70% Koshihikari (コシヒカリ) and 30% Sasanishiki (ササニシキ). For light and fluffy rice, the standard blend was 70% new Koshihikari rice and 30% old Koshihikari rice.

According to rice researchers, the best blend ratio for any rice is 7 to 3. 8 to 2 would bury the 2’s character, and 6 to 4 would make the 4’s stand out too much. The golden ratio is 7 to 3, which brings out the best of the different rice varieties while eliminating the worst.

The breakdown of 7 vs. 3 is not necessarily 2 types but can include 3 types, as in 7 vs. 2 vs. 1. A combination of 70% Tsuyahime (つや姫), the softer type, and 30% Oborozuki (おぼろづき), the firmer type, will give it a stronger stickiness and sweetness.

Yumepirika (ゆめぴりか)7 vs. Hinohikari (ヒノヒカリ)3 is also recommended. The combination of the sticky and firm varieties makes the flavor even richer. As for blending, we are just getting started, and information about the standard blends is still out of the gate.

 

Why is rice good for you?

As a living organism, the human body is constantly metabolizing and replacing old cells with new ones, so it needs to be supplied with food from outside the body daily. The food we eat every day contains a variety of nutrients. Protein, fat, and carbohydrate are the three major nutrients essential for our life and physical activities.

Among these, protein is the raw material for making our muscles, bones, skin, organs, hair, blood, enzymes, and hormones. Proteins comprise about 20 different types of amino acids (valine, leucine, isoleucine, alanine, arginine, glutamine, lysine, aspartate, glutamic acid, proline, cysteine, threonine, methionine, histidine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, asparagine, glycine, serine).

Amino acids are the breakdown products of proteins, which are the body’s building blocks. Proteins that enter the body as food, such as meat and fish, are broken down in the stomach into small substances such as amino acids, which are absorbed in the intestines. Humans and animals use a combination of the amino acids in their bodies to make proteins (muscles, hair, etc.) again and maintain their vital activities.

Some amino acids cannot be synthesized in the body and must be obtained from food. Such amino acids are called essential amino acids, and in the case of adults, there are nine types (isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine, and histidine). Amino acids are also greatly involved in the taste of foods, with some presenting sweet, umami, bitter, and sour tastes. In our opinion only, this could be a natural mechanism to encourage intake.

To compare typical grains here, we use an index called amino acid score. The amino acid score is a numerical indicator of the amount of protein and the balance of essential amino acids in a food. The closer the amino acid score is to 100, the better the protein is considered to be. Generally, protein is found abundantly in eggs, meat, fish, soy products, and dairy products. Each of these products contains different nutrients, so it is necessary to eat a variety of foods without bias for good health.

A meal broadly speaking consists of staple foods and side dishes. Staple foods are the foods that people eat the most daily, typically grains and potatoes. Rice, wheat, and corn, the world’s three major grains, are considered staple foods. Comparing the amino acid scores of these three major grains, the amino acid score of polished rice is 65 (100 for brown rice), compared to 38 for wheat flour and 32 for corn, indicating that it is a protein with excellent amino acid composition for a cereal protein. The reason polished rice does not have an amino acid score of 100 is because it lacks an essential amino acid called lysine. On the other hand, side dishes, such as meat, fish, and soy products, can be said to be the primary source of fat and protein. Both of these have an amino acid score of 100, so it does not matter what you eat. If this is the case, the staple food should be more concerned with protein intake.

Finally, each ethnic group, religion, region, nation, etc. has its own diverse food culture. The world is full of delicious meals, but in terms of what is good for the body, the combination of rice and fish is the strongest tag team. The amino acids lacking in polished rice are adequately covered by the nutrition of fish, providing the best amino acids that human cells desire. And among fish-eating dishes, Nigiri sushi is also a meal that provides many kinds of fish and the best balance of amino acids.

 

Related contents:

How to Make Sushi Rice for chirashi sushi!

Why doesn’t rice stick to the sushi chef’s hands?

Prior to WWII, there were chefs whose only job was making vinegar rice!

 

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