5 ms·

> A: People across the world say, "It's the best-tasting rice in the world, so why isn't more of it being exported?" Japanese agricultural officials often comme

by abeppu 2y ago

> A: People across the world say, "It's the best-tasting rice in the world, so why isn't more of it being exported?" Japanese agricultural officials often comment, "We can't compete with cheap rice produced in Thailand and elsewhere," but that's not the case. Just like you have luxury and standard cars, there are different kinds of rice. Luxury cars won't lose out to ordinary ones even if the price is higher. Totally not the point of this, but is Japanese rice really "the best-tasting"? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy California-produced Japanese-style short-grained varieties (I'm not sure whether I've bought actual Japanese-grown rice) -- in some applications. But sometimes you want a jasmine or a basmati or something else, and it seems like that's a matter of preference and what you're used to and what other food you're eating it with, more than "better" or "luxury".

rasz 2y ago
>Luxury cars won't lose out to ordinary ones even if the price is higher. meet Lexus LFA vs Corvette.
- georgeecollins 2y ago
  That's a really interesting comparison because the LFA is such a good car. But the Corvette has much more brand equity because its been what it is longer than most of its buyers have been alive. The LFA just wasn't around long enough to build broad awareness. A closer comparison is 911 vs Corvette. You can always charge more for a 911, both cars have a ton of brand loyalty. The 911 is the Japanese rice, the Corvette is the California rice :)
solarmist 2y ago
"It's the best-tasting rice in the world" is typical Japanese hyperbole in the same way they brag about having four seasons. I'm sure it's excellent, but in the end, it's just rice. A blind taste test would be random noise. I sure can't remember there being a material different in the rice I ate in Japan vs good Japanese food in Cali. Hell, even if you included jasmine or basmati, I'll bet most western people wouldn't even be able to tell those apart from Japanese short-grained rice. Edit: western people
- abeppu 2y ago
  I mean, different kinds of rice do have clearly different textures, and basmati and jasmine are both aromatic in a way that koshikihari is not. I think people should be able to tell them apart easily (including just from "how easy is this to eat with chopsticks? could I imagine clumping this into the base of nigiri sushi? could I imagine this in a biryani?") but I think that's very different from deciding that one is better. To me your statement is like saying people cannot tell the difference a French baguette, focaccia and Japanese milk bread because "it's just bread". I think you wouldn't confuse them unless you were really distracted.
  - solarmist 2y ago
    I agree with you and can tell, but I doubt most people around me could. They could understand each type of rice is different but wouldn't have a clue which is which. It was a bit of hyperbole, but I think you'd be surprised how undifferentiated people's pallets can be if they aren't eating something constantly.
- djtango 2y ago
  Please don't project your own opinions of a staple that people eat sometimes 3 meals a day onto others. I'll beat your blind taste test everyday of the week just by rolling the rice around in my mouth EDIT fwiw you can vaguely bucket 1.4 billion people into "eat basmati" 673M+1.4B people into "eat jasmine" and 150M+50M into "eat short grain" rice which is well over a third of the planet
  - solarmist 2y ago
    I agree with you. I can tell them apart (Not Japanese vs. California rice, though). I should have qualified that to randomly selected Americans/Europeans. And that they could understand each type of rice is different but wouldn't have a clue which is which.
    - djtango 2y ago
      I would enjoy a California be Japanese blind taste test. My mother in law has started buying Vietnamese-grown Japanese short grain - I think I can taste the difference but it could also be the cooking method As a cash strapped student I would buy Korean short grain as it was cheaper
mandevil 2y ago
If a "Japanese agricultural official" is not claiming that Japan produces the best-tasting rice in the world, he is failing at his job! His job is to promote Japanese agriculture, at home and abroad. As you say, there are different kinds of rice that taste and feel differently, and you should use the right one for your recipe, but debating with a marketing person about their superlative is a futile exercise.
- Spivak 2y ago
  Yep, I'm sure Ohio has the best corn in the world if you ask the ODA and New York has the best pizza if you ask their tourism division.
- darby_nine 2y ago
  > If a "Japanese agricultural official" is not claiming that Japan produces the best-tasting rice in the world, he is failing at his job! Surely this would be better served with a believable statement rather than blatantly subjective hyperbole.
duffyjp 2y ago
My wife is Japanese and we buy Japanese style rice grown in California (Nishiki Premium). She still complains it isn't as good, but my theory is it's actually the water used in prep. Our Wisconsin water is incredibly hard, and water in Tokyo won't scale a kettle EVER. It's very, very good.
- cynicalkane 2y ago
  Try The Rice Factory, a rice importer in New York state. They import prize rice from Japan, in refrigerated containers. It's a clear step up in quality from anything grown in California.
  - Spivak 2y ago
    Well yeah, but you're comparing steak from the blue ribbon cow to Tyson, I sure hope they win. You might still be right about regional quality but you should at least compare the best both have to offer. I would be amazed if rice grown by Japanese immigrants like Koda or Tamkai couldn't reach the level and it really was the land that made the difference.
    - lbotos 2y ago
      I would agree that Tamaki Haiga is up there with imported Japanese rice. I think calrose and it's offshoots are less delicious options.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- j7ake 2y ago
  Test your theory by using distilled or soft water to make your rice.
- sabareesh 2y ago
  Nailed it, More often it is the water than the other ingredient even with the coffee
AlbertCory 2y ago
This calls out for a Triangle Test! There are a lot of Japanese where I live, and grocery stores that cater to them. It would be easy to test whether people really can tell the difference.
dmoy 2y ago
The best rice I've had is in far northeastern China (Heilongjiang or Jilin province). Which seems weird to me given the geography, but I guess I don't know shit about rice farming.
- pragmomm 2y ago
  Many studies have shown that the heavy metal content in (Chinese) rice exceeds food safety standards, especially levels of cadium (Cd) and lead (Pb) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9754602/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9754602/
  - dmoy 2y ago
    Yea I mean I would not be surprised about this either. See also: sketchy cooking oil (sometimes literally transported in fuel tankers?), sketchy milk, etc etc. Food safety in China is still getting up to speed. Though if we're talking specifically about heavy metals, iirc northeastern China has better (lower) heavy metal levels compared to a lot of other parts of China
- insane_dreamer 2y ago
  Chinese would never agree with you. The best rice comes from the South. (I dont necessarily agree but it’s a strong stereotype that I often heard in my 6 years there). There is an old Chinese saying that goes Live in Hangzhou, marry in Suzhou, dine in Guangzhou, and die in Luzhou.
  - dmoy 2y ago
    My grandpa's side grew up in southern China, so that's what I originally thought. But my wife is from way northeast, and I had to begrudgingly admit that I do like the rice from up there better.
maxglute 2y ago
I think Japanese rice in a decent Japanese rice cooker with millions of engineering hours poured into competently cooking Japanese rice consistently produces pretty great rice. Flavour / texture wise, I'd pick Thai rice cooked from stove top over it any day.
zoogeny 2y ago
Just one man's anecdote: I worked a short walk from a specialty Japanese food store when I lived in New York city. It was the kind of place that had fresh produce and fish/meat flown in from Japan a few days per week. They had a very large section of Japanese rice that had been produced in Japan (e.g. all of the packaging including ingredients etc. were in Japanese and the store manually overlaid printed labeled stickers in English). I pretty much exclusively ate rice I bought there for 2 or 3 years cooked in a mid-range Zojirushi rice cooker (as an aside - this is my favorite and most used kitchen appliance to this day and I would replace it in a heart beat if it ever stops working) The premium brands of Japanese rice that I would buy were slightly better than the current Kokuho Rose brand I get now (this is the best I can find in semi-rural Canada). The biggest difference in quality were brown rice variants (e.g. genmai) that I have been unable to find anywhere else. But the short-grain white rice weren't so much better that I really miss them. The quality is maybe 5% better but the cost to have it imported here is more than double, so very much not worth it.

by abeppu 2y ago

rasz 2y ago

>Luxury cars won't lose out to ordinary ones even if the price is higher. meet Lexus LFA vs Corvette.

georgeecollins 2y ago
That's a really interesting comparison because the LFA is such a good car. But the Corvette has much more brand equity because its been what it is longer than most of its buyers have been alive. The LFA just wasn't around long enough to build broad awareness. A closer comparison is 911 vs Corvette. You can always charge more for a 911, both cars have a ton of brand loyalty. The 911 is the Japanese rice, the Corvette is the California rice :)

solarmist 2y ago

"It's the best-tasting rice in the world" is typical Japanese hyperbole in the same way they brag about having four seasons. I'm sure it's excellent, but in the end, it's just rice. A blind taste test would be random noise. I sure can't remember there being a material different in the rice I ate in Japan vs good Japanese food in Cali. Hell, even if you included jasmine or basmati, I'll bet most western people wouldn't even be able to tell those apart from Japanese short-grained rice. Edit: western people

abeppu 2y ago
I mean, different kinds of rice do have clearly different textures, and basmati and jasmine are both aromatic in a way that koshikihari is not. I think people should be able to tell them apart easily (including just from "how easy is this to eat with chopsticks? could I imagine clumping this into the base of nigiri sushi? could I imagine this in a biryani?") but I think that's very different from deciding that one is better. To me your statement is like saying people cannot tell the difference a French baguette, focaccia and Japanese milk bread because "it's just bread". I think you wouldn't confuse them unless you were really distracted.
- solarmist 2y ago
  I agree with you and can tell, but I doubt most people around me could. They could understand each type of rice is different but wouldn't have a clue which is which. It was a bit of hyperbole, but I think you'd be surprised how undifferentiated people's pallets can be if they aren't eating something constantly.
djtango 2y ago
Please don't project your own opinions of a staple that people eat sometimes 3 meals a day onto others. I'll beat your blind taste test everyday of the week just by rolling the rice around in my mouth EDIT fwiw you can vaguely bucket 1.4 billion people into "eat basmati" 673M+1.4B people into "eat jasmine" and 150M+50M into "eat short grain" rice which is well over a third of the planet
- solarmist 2y ago
  I agree with you. I can tell them apart (Not Japanese vs. California rice, though). I should have qualified that to randomly selected Americans/Europeans. And that they could understand each type of rice is different but wouldn't have a clue which is which.
  - djtango 2y ago
    I would enjoy a California be Japanese blind taste test. My mother in law has started buying Vietnamese-grown Japanese short grain - I think I can taste the difference but it could also be the cooking method As a cash strapped student I would buy Korean short grain as it was cheaper

mandevil 2y ago

If a "Japanese agricultural official" is not claiming that Japan produces the best-tasting rice in the world, he is failing at his job! His job is to promote Japanese agriculture, at home and abroad. As you say, there are different kinds of rice that taste and feel differently, and you should use the right one for your recipe, but debating with a marketing person about their superlative is a futile exercise.

Spivak 2y ago
Yep, I'm sure Ohio has the best corn in the world if you ask the ODA and New York has the best pizza if you ask their tourism division.
darby_nine 2y ago
> If a "Japanese agricultural official" is not claiming that Japan produces the best-tasting rice in the world, he is failing at his job! Surely this would be better served with a believable statement rather than blatantly subjective hyperbole.

duffyjp 2y ago

My wife is Japanese and we buy Japanese style rice grown in California (Nishiki Premium). She still complains it isn't as good, but my theory is it's actually the water used in prep. Our Wisconsin water is incredibly hard, and water in Tokyo won't scale a kettle EVER. It's very, very good.

cynicalkane 2y ago
Try The Rice Factory, a rice importer in New York state. They import prize rice from Japan, in refrigerated containers. It's a clear step up in quality from anything grown in California.
- Spivak 2y ago
  Well yeah, but you're comparing steak from the blue ribbon cow to Tyson, I sure hope they win. You might still be right about regional quality but you should at least compare the best both have to offer. I would be amazed if rice grown by Japanese immigrants like Koda or Tamkai couldn't reach the level and it really was the land that made the difference.
  - lbotos 2y ago
    I would agree that Tamaki Haiga is up there with imported Japanese rice. I think calrose and it's offshoots are less delicious options.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
j7ake 2y ago
Test your theory by using distilled or soft water to make your rice.
sabareesh 2y ago
Nailed it, More often it is the water than the other ingredient even with the coffee

AlbertCory 2y ago

This calls out for a Triangle Test! There are a lot of Japanese where I live, and grocery stores that cater to them. It would be easy to test whether people really can tell the difference.

dmoy 2y ago

The best rice I've had is in far northeastern China (Heilongjiang or Jilin province). Which seems weird to me given the geography, but I guess I don't know shit about rice farming.

pragmomm 2y ago
Many studies have shown that the heavy metal content in (Chinese) rice exceeds food safety standards, especially levels of cadium (Cd) and lead (Pb) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9754602/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9754602/
- dmoy 2y ago
  Yea I mean I would not be surprised about this either. See also: sketchy cooking oil (sometimes literally transported in fuel tankers?), sketchy milk, etc etc. Food safety in China is still getting up to speed. Though if we're talking specifically about heavy metals, iirc northeastern China has better (lower) heavy metal levels compared to a lot of other parts of China
insane_dreamer 2y ago
Chinese would never agree with you. The best rice comes from the South. (I dont necessarily agree but it’s a strong stereotype that I often heard in my 6 years there). There is an old Chinese saying that goes Live in Hangzhou, marry in Suzhou, dine in Guangzhou, and die in Luzhou.
- dmoy 2y ago
  My grandpa's side grew up in southern China, so that's what I originally thought. But my wife is from way northeast, and I had to begrudgingly admit that I do like the rice from up there better.

maxglute 2y ago

I think Japanese rice in a decent Japanese rice cooker with millions of engineering hours poured into competently cooking Japanese rice consistently produces pretty great rice. Flavour / texture wise, I'd pick Thai rice cooked from stove top over it any day.

zoogeny 2y ago

Just one man's anecdote: I worked a short walk from a specialty Japanese food store when I lived in New York city. It was the kind of place that had fresh produce and fish/meat flown in from Japan a few days per week. They had a very large section of Japanese rice that had been produced in Japan (e.g. all of the packaging including ingredients etc. were in Japanese and the store manually overlaid printed labeled stickers in English). I pretty much exclusively ate rice I bought there for 2 or 3 years cooked in a mid-range Zojirushi rice cooker (as an aside - this is my favorite and most used kitchen appliance to this day and I would replace it in a heart beat if it ever stops working) The premium brands of Japanese rice that I would buy were slightly better than the current Kokuho Rose brand I get now (this is the best I can find in semi-rural Canada). The biggest difference in quality were brown rice variants (e.g. genmai) that I have been unable to find anywhere else. But the short-grain white rice weren't so much better that I really miss them. The quality is maybe 5% better but the cost to have it imported here is more than double, so very much not worth it.