Japanese rice

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Japanese rice refers to a number of short-grain cultivars of Japonica rice including ordinary rice (uruchimai) and glutinous rice (mochigome).

Ordinary Japanese rice, or uruchimai (粳米), is the staple of the Japanese diet and consists of short translucent grains. When cooked, it has a sticky texture such that it can easily be picked up and eaten with chopsticks. Outside Japan, it is sometimes labeled sushi rice, as this is one of its common uses. It is also used to produce sake.

Glutinous rice, known in Japan as mochigome (もち米), is used for making mochi (餅), Okowa, and special dishes such as sekihan. It is a short-grain rice, and it can be distinguished from uruchimai by its particularly short, round, opaque grains, its greater stickiness when cooked, and firmer and chewier texture.