A word on rice

On Hiroyuki's request, I'll post about the two varieties of rice in my household that I currently use the most.

 

For the onigiri yesterday, I used this Californian "sushi" rice, bought at Yumi Hana (Korean/Japanese grocer in central Zurich).

One cookbook author tells me that the term "sushi rice" is misleading, making you think that you can only use it for sushi. I use it for most Asian dishes.

The characters in the middle of the pack (outer left) read "kirei na o-kome" (beautiful rice - yes, I know the kanji for kome now!). I wonder why "kirei" is written in Katakana. But my guess is that the Japanese on the pack has merely decorative purposes.

I need a bit more water than indicated in my rice cooker's manual, or the cooked rice will turn out a bit hard.

I only buy this rice when I have space in my backpack on a visit to Yumi Hana.

When it runs out and I need rice quick, I use this sort:

This is Italian short-grain rice intended for sweet rice pudding made with milk. But it also works well for most Japanese dishes, even for sushi.

In the next photo, you can see the difference between the two.

 

Left: Originario, Right: Akitakomachi

The Italian rice grains are a bit bigger.

Frankly, I don't know what other rice varieties are still in my cupboard after the last cleanup. There may be some Risotto rice, some Basmati rice...