I have been making my rice with just new crop rice but it seems I keep
hearing about blending old crop with new crop rice.

1. Is there a benifit?
2. What ratio and brand should I try? (California rice?)

I also just heard a snipet on Iron Chef Japan Sushi battle that
Morimoto added something to his rice since the rice didn't contain
enough starch because of the way it is grown.

Any idea what this is?

JoanOfArc > wrote:
> I have been making my rice with just new crop rice but it seems I keep
> hearing about blending old crop with new crop rice.
>
> 1. Is there a benifit?
> 2. What ratio and brand should I try? (California rice?)
>
> I also just heard a snipet on Iron Chef Japan Sushi battle that
> Morimoto added something to his rice since the rice didn't contain
> enough starch because of the way it is grown.
>
> Any idea what this is?

Rice is best within three months of harvest. If you're not in Japan, forget
it. Just get the freshest you can.

I can't imagine what Morimoto may have been talking about. Rice for sushi
is vigorously rinsed several times to remove excess starch so the kernels
won't stick together (we're not making risotto here).

AFAIK Sushi rice (sumeshi) is always made with short-grain rice. The only
things added are vinegar, sugar and salt. A piece of slashed konbu on the
rice cooking water, 'til it starts boiling, adds a nice note. As an
alternative, you could use ichiban dashi, instead of water, to cook the
rice. If you want a sweet sumeshi, you can add a little mirin to the rice
cooking water. Start with 1 Tbs mirin for 2 cups of rice.

HTH

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"JoanOfArc" > wrote in message
...
>I have been making my rice with just new crop rice but it seems I keep
> hearing about blending old crop with new crop rice.
>
> 1. Is there a benifit?
> 2. What ratio and brand should I try? (California rice?)
>

Most new crop rice is used as is. But depending on the household and perhaps
the intended
dishes it would not be unsual to blend shinmai (new crop) with komai(old
crop).
Shinmai tends to be stickier because the rain grains still contain moisture.
This is ideal for serving rice
alone. Komai tends to be less sticky because the moisture has evaporated,
and is idea for dishes
like Cha Han (Fried Rice) or Kare Raisu (curry rice) where you would want
each grain not to stick
together. Additionally, nearly all Sushi restaurants in Japan use Komai or
some kind of Komai blend
because when the rice grain dries and loses moisture it develops small
hairline cracks on the surface.
These cracks permit the Su (vinegar) to be absorbed better.

The ratio for blending is entirely up to your personal taste and what dishes
you are planning to make.
As to brands, there are many, but I find both Nishiki and Kokuhou to be
quite acceptable for sushi.
Koshihikari tends to be sticky but without much "koshi" (chewiness) to the
grains. We use
Nozomi in the house most of the time.

> I also just heard a snipet on Iron Chef Japan Sushi battle that
> Morimoto added something to his rice since the rice didn't contain
> enough starch because of the way it is grown.
> Any idea what this is?

I've never heard of anything like this, however if I had to guess I would
say he added some
Mochigome (sweet rice) which is very very sticky.
Unfortunately I never saw that episode.

Musashi

> I've never heard of anything like this, however if I had to guess I would
> say he added some
> Mochigome (sweet rice) which is very very sticky.
> Unfortunately I never saw that episode.
>
> Musashi

I agree. I haven't watch the episode, but adding sweet rice seems to
be the most reasonable explanation.