Koshihikari rice

Riz koshihikari

What it is

Bred at Fukui and released in 1956, its name means the light of Koshi, the old province strung along the Japan Sea coast. It is an awkward plant — tall, weak-strawed, apt to fall in wind — and was adopted for eating quality alone, which is how it came to cover more Japanese paddy than any other variety.

In the kitchen

Rinse until the water runs almost clear, soak thirty minutes, then cook by absorption in barely more water than rice by volume. The ten-minute rest off the heat, before you cut through it with a paddle, is what separates the grains.

Goes with

Nori Salmon Umeboshi Soy sauce Rice vinegar Egg Ikura Shiso

Same species

Akazu Arborio rice Rice paper (bánh tráng) Basmati rice Black glutinous rice Black rice

Also used with

Roasted barley tea

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