Why is some Japanese rice $30-70 for a smallish bag?

[Cinnamon]

So I understand that there are some premium rice varieties. I understand that import costs can get high, and that sometimes people just want the stuff they knew from home.

But I wasn't really prepared to glance at the rice varieties at my local Mitsuwa market in L.A. and see that some fairly modest-sized bags of Japanese rice in several types ran $30-70.

What kinds are so expensive here? Are they THAT good (describe, please)? Are they also the price of a full upscale dinner when you buy them in Tokyo? How often do Japanese-Americans who can afford it tend to fork out the bucks for this kind of stuff? (Is it a must for certain dishes, or a once-in-awhile luxury?)

[monku]

JA's I know always buy the cheapest and tell me what's on sale, so I couldn't tell you what the premium stuff tastes like. The cheapest domestic stuff is grown in California.

[bkhuna]

Ever been to Japan and seen the size of the average farmer's land? I use to live in a small Japanese village and have seen rice being grown, harvested, threshed, etc.

Even with machines to sometimes do the actual planting of the seedlings, rice growing in Japan is most often a family run enterprise that uses mostly manual labor. While it may seem inefficient from a labor standpoint, the actual yield per plot is high. It's just that the plots are so small, the amount any one family grows is low.

When my Japanese associates traveled to the U.S. they would buy bags of U.S. grown rice to take back home. Many of them were particularly fond of Calrose.

[monku]

I don't know if I heard this, but doesn't the government control the export of Japanese rice?

I remember during the Japanese tourist boom in Los Angeles the gift shops selling specially marked bags of US Japanese rice for them to take home.

[NecrochildK]

They do indeed. The rice generally found is a different type from american grown rice. It's a shorter grain. Sushi rice tends to be a bit more expensive because it's a more specialized strain. Japane doesn't even let out the real sushi rice I hear. There's a specific rice species native to Japan that they grow only there and is especially good for sushi, but it's partly a heritage thing and isn't allowed out of the country.
So I imagine even the stuff they do export goes up in price from your general long grain, narrow American grown rice.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Japan's Japonica rices are availble for growing elsewhere; but Japan has some of the colder rice agroecosystems in the world. The Japonicas grown in California are well within the range of rices grown in Japan. "Sushi" rices is a just a marketing ploy - most Japonicas make a fine sushi. All rice is Oryza sativa (there are no different species). Within O. sativa are Indicas, Japoicas, Glaberimas; and together there are more than 80,000 varieties.

[Cinnamon]

>and together there are more than 80,000 varieties<

Uh-oh. Think I'll try a couple, see if I like them, and stick with them!

[Sam Fujisaka]

Make sure you try Fujisaka 5 from the cold stress testing site at the Fujisaka station in Hokkaido. Great taste, no relation.

[Cinnamon]

Ha! Love it.

[Akitist]

Akita Komachi is one variety. The high speed train (Shinkansen) to Akita Prefecture is named after it. Truly a superior rice, and even a non-connoisseur like me can tell (curry rice at the the Odate City bus station diner blew me away). There are others.

One reason for the high prices is high production costs, with small, inefficient farms and lots of hand labor.

The current Costco offering is pretty good. Big improvement over last year. Way cheap, too.

[scubadoo97]

It's important to note that cost is not always a measure of quality. It has a lot to do with production costs as you mentioned.

[applehome]

Most people wouldn't think of doing something like this, but if you actually buy and try these rices next to each other, you will detect the nuances. Even having had Japonica rice every single day until I was 17 and left my mom's house, I never really understood the real *flavor* of rice until I did this. You don't have to go nuts with a $70 version. You can buy Tamanishiki for about $20. Cook that next to Tamaki Gold, and the standard Calrose (nishiki or botan or whatever), and the differences will amaze you. There's a basic texture and flavor difference between the medium grain calrose and the short-grain (like koshihikari) - they're all varieties of Japonica, but the differences are easy to see, feel and taste. The flavor of the Tamanishiki just blooms in your mouth - it's really the same flavor - rice - but what that is, exactly, becomes just that much more obvious.

If you get adventurous, also cook some haigamai next to the others. It's also a japonica, but it's not fully milled and polished, like white rices. It's like half-way to brown rice, where the entire endosperm is left on. You get a lot of the benefits of brown rice, including more complex starches and lower glycemic index, but it's much closer to white in terms of texture and taste.

Cooking all these rices is a PITA and a waste (to some degree... I ate it all), but there's no better way that I know of to get the real appreciation for the flavor nuances involved - just like a wine or coffee tasting.

[Cinnamon]

Thanks. (I will probably save this experiment for a sale, or at least for when we run out of the rice on hand!)

[monku]

Good explanation.
Like everything else we eat and drink (even water) there are always going to be a "premium" price brand.

For me expensive rice is probably a waste, because I've always got to have something on it even if it's just soy sauce or butter.

[cgfan]

I remember going to a Mitsuwa once with my Mom and older brother in Los Angeles when they had just brought in this one particularly famous (and expensive!) rice from Japan, over and above the ones that you normally see at Mistuwa, however exotic.

My mother immediately picked up a bag, small as it was, which surprised me as having grown up in Tokyo through the war years was never one to splurge in this manner. My brother also picked up a bag to take back with him to New York. I, ever the fool, didn't, and later when I heard the tasting notes when we all got back to our respective homes I could've kicked myself for not picking up some!

For everyday use my all around favorite is Tamanishiki. It's a blend of two premium varieties and is one of the more expensive domestically produced brands out there. It cooks up wonderfully in my clay pot rice cooker, complete with the all important "Koge". Someday, though, I really ought to splurge and pick up one of the premium imported brands of rice.

[smrits]

I can't help but think that the cost of the rice has very little to do with production costs (small farms, labor intensive) and has more to do with trade agreements and marketing. I'd hazard to say that most rice grown in south/south-east Asia is grown under similar circumstances. I've seen the back breaking work that goes into planting and harvesting rice in Nepal and Indonesia - but these harvests do not fetch premium prices.

[applehome]

Speaking only for Japan, there has been a premium rice marketplace for many, many generations. While initially only for nobility/warrior class, it extended to business class as they rose in power. In fact, at times, the less powerful and the poor couldn't even afford any rice at all, and made do with barley - which is still considered poor man's food. Rice was and still is, to some extent, a commodity with inherent class implications. Traditionally regulated not by the marketplace, but by the powerful.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Rice in Indonesia and the Terai of Nepal are Indicas like IR 64 and IR 72. They produce two to two-and a half crops per year and can yield up to 7 tons per hectare in more favorable areas like the Punjab and Central Java. Japonicas in Japan yield much less, are sown once a year. Labor costs probably 30 - 40 times as much in Japan as in Indonesia and Nepal.

[smrits]

I'd definitely like to learn more about different crops of rice and the social dynamics of rice in different cultures. Every once in a while, I'll hear about why a particular strain of rice is ideal for a certain preparation, but how it can no longer be found in stores - all very anecdotal stuff.
However, I think for the OP, and most hounds, the main question is flavor vs price. Do the additional labor costs, lower yields and niche varietals (don't know if this is the correct word) produce a rice that is exceptional? In any case, I'm pretty sure I'd never buy it at a grocery store - I would probably mess it up in the cooking process.

[applehome]

The answer is the same as with wine, coffee, any other commodity that has an incredible range of products, niches, etc. Most people will be able to tell the difference across the broad range - minor nuances will come with more experience. Some say that some of it is exceptional - but is it exceptional to you? Is it exceptional enough for you to pay the premium? If you haven't grown up with the culture of rice, it may not be as meaningful. Yet we can all learn about differences in wine, scotch, coffee, cheeses, etcetc... I'm pretty sure that anyone that wanted to could learn to tell the differences and then decide whether the best stuff is worth it to them.

As with teas and coffees, etc., most of the premium rices that come in small bags come with instructions that detail how best to cook their product. The premium Japanese and Japanese style (US Japonica) rices are sold primarily at Japanese and Korean stores - rarely at Chinese or SE Asian stores, although it depends entirely on the community that uses the store. You won't find them in the standard grocery store - in most, you're lucky to find any japonica, and then, only the standard grade calrose. Although I have seen the tiny plastic bottles of koshihikari labeled as "sushi rice". I wouldn't assume that to be a premium rice, unless the blurb specifically indicated that it was so.

[smrits]

I've never thought to look at rice as a standalone food. While chocolate, scotch, etc. all have their places as ingredients, I'm just as happy eating them on their own. I don't think I've ever had just a plain bowl of rice. I eat rice just about every day, but I've always thought about it in the context of what I'm eating with it. I'll be picking up a copy of "Seductions of Rice" (thanks Father Kitchen).

[Sam Fujisaka]

I've eaten rice all my life and would not pay those premium prices. To me, general categories of rices from best to worse are: Lao/NE Thai sticky rices, Japonicas, the aromatic Jasmins and Basmatis, and the common long grained Indicas (IR72 types). I look for and try to bring back Califiornia Japanese rices each time I go to the US. I'm perfectly happy with CalRose from SafeWay (where, unfortunately, it has not been stocked for about a year).

[applehome]

Why's that? I mean the Safeways not stocking calrose - is it part of the global shortage, or a market shift, maybe?

[Sam Fujisaka]

I don't know. I'd guess that prices simply went high enough that the two Safeways I shop in DC just thought it out of the price range of their customers.

[Father Kitchen]

Sam, our local Safeway carries a medium-grain rice under the Goya brand. The flavor is pretty good, but I found an unacceptable amount of foreign seeds and small pebbles in it. For the Calrose I have to go to Asian or Latin Markets. Some of the Asian markets, unfortunately, really padded the price when there was a rice shortage last year. I tend to avoid them. But I was in Costco in Pentagon City last Wednesday and they had some California rices in bulk bags. I think it was called KuhimoRose. I didn't get it as we don't need any yet and we were trying to limit purchases to only what was necessary. But I'll probably pick some up on my next trip, perhaps next Wednesday.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Do get a big bag. Well worth it.

[Father Kitchen]

The rice is Kokuho Rose, and I found it is considered premium rice, and I will buy it for sure.
By the way, Chow Hounds may be interested in going to the NPR site for an audio clip of Jason Margolis on California Rice from the "Morning Edition" program of January 1, 2004. I'd transcribe the link but I'm just dyslexic enough to usually get it wrong. So it would be easier to find it by Googling it.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Great. Kokuho is very good. Bargain!

[Cinnamon]

That stuff is all over down here, relatively cheap. Same farm as the Mochiko rice flour I buy (but haven't bought that rice yet).
http://www.kodafarms.com/products.html
And history: http://www.kodafarms.com/hist_about.html

[FoodFuser]

This is my favorite Japanese rice. Nutty... good cling.

When they changed their packaging a few years ago, the shock was akin to when Aunt Bessie replaced her 70's sedan with a new model.

[KaimukiMan]

what are they stocking? as i am sure you can guess if they didn't stock calrose in their hawaii stores they would be out of business in about a month. who would shop at a grocery that doesn't have calrose?

[Father Kitchen]

Sam, is there a guide to rice that you can recommend? I have "Sductions of Rice" and another smaller book by Sri Owen, but I've never seen anything like a comprehensive guide.

[Sam Fujisaka]

I don't know of one either. I'll ask some former rice research colleagues (Although what would they know? Many don't eat all that much rice).

[Sam Fujisaka]

Japan has a substantial area of rice produced using modern technologies. Surprisingly, the biggest farms (albeit tiny by California standards) are now run by tenant farmers who tenant maybe 20 - 30 small family parcels. All the parcels are leveled into large as possible, efficient paddies and farmed with mechanization. Land owners can identify their land only by using a GPS.

The high prices of Japanese rices are due to high labor costs, high fixed costs, and because most of Japan only produces one crop per year. The specialty rices are sold for much more because they yield less, are often more susceptible to pests and diseases, and occupy a niche market.

[fresnohotspot]

I know you spent years of research in the rice industry in the Philippines. How do their varieties compare to the rice from Laos/Thailand. Where would you rank the California rice? I know I have started to buy a lot of the Kokuho Rose grown by Koda Farms from the Firebaugh area... a preference to buy local when I can.

[Sam Fujisaka]

hotspot (from my much missed hometown), I worked on rice research for many years as part of one of the 15 major international not-for-profit agricultural research centers and not for the industry. My work was all over south and SE Asia and in east Africa. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is located in the Philippines (Los Banos, Laguna). IRRI was one of the initial centers that brought about the “Green Revolution.” Our rices (from the early IR8 to IR 36 and IR 42 to the base of many cultivars today – IR72) were or shorter duration, were more disease resistant, were higher yielding under farmer conditions, and yielded even more with applications of fertilizer. The rices we developed were a part of feeding many people otherwise in danger of severe food shortages.

As to quality, I prefer Lao/NE Thai sticky rice followed by the California Japonicas that I grew up eating – Nishiki, Koda Brothers, and even CalRose. After these, I of course enjoy the aromatic Basmatis and Jasmins. The rices we developed at IRRI are my least favorite – but those were developed to feed the global poor and at risk: rices that are less susceptible to pests and diseases, that yield more, that respond to fertilizer if available, that are of short duration, that are short and do not lodge (fall over in the face of wind), and that are more efficient converters of sunlight into grain.

[fresnohotspot]

Thank you Sam, the hometown hounds are waiting for the day you can join us for for a few crawls through the Valley foods you remember.

[KaimukiMan]

Sam, in what way are these your least favorite rices. Is it a flavor/texture thing? Is there something inherent in these "improved" green revolution grains that preclude them from becoming better eating rice? In other words what is it about making them shorter, more viable, faster growng that interferes with the overall quality of the grain they produce?

[Sam Fujisaka]

The IRRI rices are just Indicas that have been around forever but were improved to have shorter stature and duration and greater yield. The flavor wasn't really changed with the new varieties. Part of it is that these rices never tasted all that good - to me because I grew up on Japonicas. The other thing is that aromatic and tastier rices are also preferred by birds, rats, and some insect pests.

[another_adam]

We're not Japanese American, but we do shell out for premium rice on a fairly regular basis, when we can find it (generally Tamaki haiga, which runs ~$35-$40 for 15 lbs in Boston). It's a luxury, for sure, but after recently trying to drop it for budgetary reasons, we came to the conclusion that it's still worth the cost for two situations:

1) Special occasions/guests
2) Conversely, I often use it for the lunchbox, where I'm bringing a small portion and frequently have only a few simple flavor components: rice, some sort of pickles, a vegetable, maybe a fishcake. The cost per lunch portion is quite small, even at $2+ a lb for the rice, and the flavor of the haiga rice (nutty? riceful?) is so much more satisfying.

I guess the way I rationalize it is that if I ate bread for lunch every day in sandwiches or whatnot, I'd probably want to shell out the money for something a little nicer than the standard supermarket sandwich loaf, and something nicer could easily run $3 or $4 a loaf. So why not a premium rice for onigiri?

[hobbess]

Does the OP ask this same question if they buy rice to make risotto? I bought some arborio rice to make risotto, and I calculated that arborio rice probably cost just as much, if not more, than premium rice at Mitsuawa.

And, that's why ethnic restaurants are restricted to the ghetto of ethnic prices, where they are confined to a certain price point no matter the quality of their food or quality of their ingredients.