Glutinous Rice

Also known as sushi rice, this short-grained rice has fat, round, opaque white grains that cook into a dense, sticky mass. It must be soaked overnight before steaming or cooking in water. Glutinous rice is popular in Oriental cooking, when it can be served as a dessert rice. It is also used in sushi dishes, wher it is flavoured with rice wine and vinegar and topped or rolled with raw fish or vegetables. There is also a black, nutty flavoured glutinous rice that is used in South-east Asian desserts.

Glutinous rice may be fermented to make rice vinegar and low-alcohol wines such as Japanese sake and mirin and Chinese shaoxing. When ground into flour it is used to make sweet dumplings, cakes and pastries, or used as a binder for fillings, gravies and sauces. Dishes made using this flour can be frozen and thawed without separating, making it a good option for frozen food products.

Glutinous rice may also be known by a variety of other terms, such as sticky rice, waxy rice, sweet rice, mochi rice, botan rice and pearl rice.