Rice (2024)

Japanese rice is short grain and becomes sticky when cooked. The majority of Japanese rice is polished to remove the hard outer skin (rice bran) and consumed as hakumai ("white rice"). White rice is the foundation of Japanese cooking and is served with most meals.

Unpolished rice (genmai) is less commonly sold as it is not considered to be as delicious as white rice. However, it has been recently gaining popularity as a health food because it is more nutritious than white rice. The outer bran retains much of the vitamins and minerals that are removed by polishing.

Other grains and seeds may be added to white rice to add flavor and nutrients. One variation simply adds barley (resulting in mugi gohan), but more elaborate varieties may include more than a dozen different additions. Multigrain rice is usually called by the number of different grains that are added (e.g. juhachikoku), and is served at some health food restaurants.

Glutinous rice (also known as mochi rice or sticky rice) is the second most common variety of Japanese rice. When cooked it is even stickier than regular Japanese rice and is commonly pounded into rice cakes, made into sweets, or used in rice dishes such as sekihan (glutinous rice with red beans).

Rice wine, commonly known as nihonshu or sake (sake also being used as a general term for alcohol), is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting rice. Sake comes in several varieties and may be served hot or cold. It is not traditionally drunk together with rice dishes as it is considered to be rice itself. Produced in a similar way, mirin is a sweet rice wine that is widely used in cooking.

Vinegar can also be produced from rice, and is used in dressings, pickles, marinades and for preparing sushi rice. Most Japanese rice vinegar is light in color and flavor and only mildly acidic. Dark vinegars are also produced and drank as a health drink.

Rice flour, made from ground up white or glutinous rice, is used to make Japanese sweets and rice crackers (senbei), as a thickening agent in cooking, or as substitute for wheat flour to make bread. Rice flour is gluten free.

Rice bran, or nuka, is the hard outer skin of the rice grains that is removed when polishing brown rice to make white rice. Rice bran has a high nutritional value and is used in a variety of ways in Japanese cooking, most commonly to make a type of pickle (nukazuke).

A bowl of rice forms the basis of most Japanese meals. It is the central dish of traditional Japanese meals, in which the other dishes served are considered accompaniments to the rice. A bowl of rice is commonly served as a set with miso soup and pickles. At Western-style restaurants, cooked rice is served as an alternative to bread.

Rice cakes (mochi or omochi) are traditionally made from steamed and pounded glutinous rice. They are traditionally eaten on New Year, but have become a popular dish throughout the year. Rice cakes are prepared in a variety of ways and may be eaten fresh, grilled, fried or served in soups.

Rice balls, or onigiri, are made of cooked rice and are commonly wrapped in nori seaweed. They are usually lightly seasoned with salt and often contain a filling such as umeboshi (pickled Japanese plum), okaka (dried bonito shavings and konbu) or salmon. Rice balls are a popular and inexpensive snack available at convenience stores, but are also commonly on the menu at other restaurants and izakaya.

Tamago-kake gohan is a common breakfast dish consisting of a raw egg mixed into a bowl of rice. There are many variations on this simple comfort food, but most often it is seasoned with bit of soy sauce. Eggs are commonly eaten raw or partially cooked in Japan.

Chazuke, or ochazuke, is another simple comfort food consisting of tea, hot water or light fish stock poured over rice (sometimes made with leftover rice). Chazuke is often garnished with toppings such as umeboshi, grilled salmon or pickles. Chazuke is commonly served at izakaya and is a popular dish to eat after drinking.

Kayu, or okayu, is Japanese rice porridge made by slowly cooking rice in lots of water. It tends to be thicker than other types of rice porridge or gruel and is a suitable dish for using left over rice. Kayu is often garnished with umeboshi and is commonly served to sick people because it is easily digestible.

Donburi refers to a bowl of plain cooked rice with some other food on top of it. Donburi are served at specialty restaurants, but they are also a common dish that can be found on all kinds of restaurants' menus. Some of the most popular varieties are gyudon (with stewed beef), katsudon (with tonkatsu), tendon (with tempura), oyakodon (with chicken and egg), tekkadon (with tuna) and kaisendon (with raw seafood).

Sushi can be defined as a dish that contains sushi rice, cooked white rice flavored with vinegar. There are various kinds of sushi dishes, such as nigirizushi (hand formed sushi), makizushi (rolled sushi) and chirashizushi (sushi rice topped with raw fish).

Fried rice, or chahan, is a dish that was originally introduced from China. There are an infinite variety of ingredients that can be added to fried rice. Some common ones are peas, egg, green onions (negi), carrots and pork. Chahan is a suitable dish for using left over rice.

Omuraisu, short for omelet rice, is fried rice wrapped in a thin egg omelet. Omuraisu is usually shaped like an American football and may be garnished with ketchup or demi-glace sauce. It is a common diner or cafe food, although specialty omuraisu restaurants also exist.

Senbei are baked or grilled crackers made from rice flour. They come in many different shapes and sizes, and there are both savory and sweet varieties. Some of the most popular are flavored with a soy sauce glaze or wrapped in seaweed.

Rice flour and pounded glutinous rice (mochi) are among the most common ingredients of Japanese sweets alongside sweet beans. Some common sweets made with rice products include daif*cku (sweetened red bean paste wrapped in mochi), kushi-dango (mochi dumplings on skewers) and ohagi (red bean paste wrapped in coarse pounded mochi rice).

Rice bran pickles are common household pickles fermented in a mixture of roasted rice bran (nuka), salt and other ingredients. Whole vegetables - most popularly cucumbers and daikon - are stirred into the mash and allowed to cure anywhere from a day to several months. The resulting crisp, salty and tangy pickles are then rinsed clean, sliced and served. Nukazuke are rich in lactobacillus and said to aid in digestion.

Rice flour can be used to make a variety of different types of bread. Rice bread (komepan) is sold at many bakeries and supermarkets, and is a gluten free substitute for regular wheat flour bread.