January, 2011

The release of new season rice or shinmai is a big event in Japan's culinary calendar. Harvest is usually around October, and the rice hits stores shortly after. For the first time, Australians have enjoyed this Japanese shinmai--we started getting ours in early December. Japanese grocery stores stock them mostly in 5kg and 10kg bags, and at around $50 for a 5kg bag, it's rice to be savoured (or try online shop kidaya).

Why do Japanese go crazy over new season rice? Well, Japanese tend to go crazy over anything that is "new season"--the importance of seasonality in Japanese cuisine just can't be understated. But as rice is Japanese food's main staple, it's centrality in ever day cuisine is paramount (click here for cultural/spiritual meaning of rice in Japan).

Japanese are connoisseurs of rice like Italians are of olive oil, and our noses and tongues are supposed to be able to distinguish the difference between koshihikari (arguably the best rice varieties), Akitakomaki, hitomebore etc. But it is the fragrant, soft, succulent nature of just steamed rice that we go "ahh" over, and "old rice", which is anything harvested before November 1st (Ministry of Agriculture designates new season begins Nov. 1) is supposed to be tougher and need more water to steam. But if making sushi, new season rice is not appropriate, as it's too soft. And shinmai is usually white polished rice, not brown rice.

In recent years, Uonuma Koshihikari is the most prized, and expensive, and is a brand of rice grown in Uonuma in Niigata Prefecture. But given Uonuma is such a small place, one wonder if all this rice, including the bags being imported to Australia, could all come from one single harvest in Uonuma...Uonuma is like a brand of rice for brand conscious Japanese.

In Sydney, it's mostly well-heeled Chinese people who love Japanese rice, so there goes the theory that's rice appreciation is a uniquely Japanese thing. And the best way to eat shinmai is simply on its own--as onigiri which are rice balls, and an equivalent to the sandwich. To make, dampen hands, sprinkle a bit of salt on palms and scoop up just steamed rice and form round or triangular onigiri. Place an umeboshi (pickled plum) or salty fish, or some other morsel to your liking in the middle and you have Japanese rice "sandwiches" to take to lunch. Or even simpler, just salted onigiri is best for the shinmai experience.

As an aside, the word "shinmai" or new season rice also means "newbie", so a new colleague at work or an initiate is called shinmai-fresh, innocent, untainted....

by Masako Fukui Kei's Kitchen

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