Knowing exactly what glutinous rice is and what it is used for is the best advice for selecting good glutinous rice. This is significant because these varieties are frequently packaged under a variety of other terms, some of which are inaccurate and misleading. It’s a good idea to read the entire package before using it. If it’s packaged in clear plastic, having a general idea of what the grains look like will also help you decide.
The word glutinous is made up of the Latin words “glue” and “bond,” as well as the words “to hold” and “full of.” It’s not to be confused with gluten, a protein that some people can’t digest. Gluten isn’t found in rice. However, some packagers may have chosen not to use this proper name because gluten is associated with some health-conscious people as undesirable. If your package says “glutinous,” you know you’ve got the right product.
Although all rice is sticky to some degree, glutinous rice is distinct. When cooked, the individual grains will adhere to one another with the strength of chewing gum. It may be referred to as “sticky rice” on a menu at a Chinese restaurant, but this term is rarely used in the packaging of dry grains. While rice can be found in nearly every market around the world, glutinous rice is more likely to be found in Asian grocery stores.
Rice comes in thousands of varieties, but they’re all just agricultural strains of the grass Oryza sativa. Your package is unlikely to be identified as Oryza sativa var. glutinosa. Although this is a generalization, most long-grained rice has been bred to separate after cooking and stick together less. It is best to be cautious if your package contains thin, long, and oblong grains.
The majority of glutinous rice is not only short-grained, but also shorter and plumper than regular rice. They have a milky white appearance and a highly polished surface, and are sometimes referred to as waxy rice. This is true even for brown varieties, whose kernels are still protected by a shell called bran on the outside. Other unusual varieties include black or purple grains. x000D_
Glutinous rice cultivation and consumption are mostly limited to Asian countries. It is a staple of the Laotian diet, where it is referred to as khao niao. They are a specialized rice variety used primarily as a dessert ingredient in some countries. In Japan, for example, cooked rice is pounded repeatedly with a wet mallet until it becomes a smooth loaf with the textural bite of chewing gum, a process known as mochi gome. Rice is frequently filled or paired with other sweet ingredients there.
“Sweet rice” is one of the most common packaging labels for glutinous rice. This isn’t a reference to its flavor; rather, it’s a reference to its overabundance of use in sweet dishes and confections. Some countries steam rice with sweet ingredients in a candy wrapper of banana leaves, while others steam rice with sweet ingredients in a candy wrapper of banana leaves. There is also sweet rice, which is a fluffy, long-grained rice that is closely related to the jasmine strain. When making your decision, make sure you don’t mix the two.