This series discusses the present and future of washoku traditional Japanese cuisine. This installment features rice, an indispensable part of washoku.
During the Showa era (1926-89), Koshihikari and Sasanishiki were popular varieties dubbed the yokozuna of rice in Japan, but it has been many years since the Sasanishiki all but disappeared.
Kimio Chiba runs a sushi restaurant in the city of Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture -- the birthplace of Sasanishiki. Chiba, 70, is one of many sushi and washoku chefs who hope the Sasanishiki makes a comeback.
"Koshihikari doesn't work because it's too sticky," Chiba explained. "The flavor of the sushi toppings won't come alive if we don't use Sasanishiki, which has a lighter flavor."
The Sasanishiki crop was decimated by the record-breaking cold summer of 1993. The variety was vulnerable to the cold and the stalks easily toppled over. This prompted many farmers in Miyagi Prefecture, the main Sasanishiki-producing region, to switch to Hitomebore, a variety better able to withstand the cold. The proportion of land planted with Sasanishiki plunged from 66 percent in 1993 to a provisional figure of 6 percent for 2018.
Last October, a department store in Tokyo's Ginza district held an event at which consumers could sample and compare 13 rice varieties developed during the current Heisei era, which started in 1989. Sasamusubi, created as an improved variety of Sasanishiki, received rave reviews at the event. Grown in Osaki, Sasamusubi made its market debut in 2015.
In 2001, the Miyagi prefectural government's Furukawa Agricultural Experiment Station started research aimed at improving Sasanishiki.
"[Sasamusubi] carries on the distinctive flavor of Sasanishiki and has ironed out [the latter's] shortcomings," an official of the city's agricultural promotion section said. "Local residents have told us [the new variety] has a comfortably familiar flavor."
Chiba also uses Sasamusubi at his sushi restaurant. Although only small areas of land are being used to grow the new variety, a steadily rising number of orders for this rice are coming from the prefecture and beyond. Land used for growing Sasamusubi is scheduled to be expanded in 2020.
Rice varieties also are susceptible to ups and downs. In the 1970s, Nipponbare was dominant, but Koshihikari has since claimed this crown. According to Kenichi Otsubo, a professor at Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, since about 1990 the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has encouraged the cultivation of various types of rice and development of new varieties that can better match consumer preferences, in an effort to boost consumption of the crop. Developing a new variety involves low-key work that takes 10 to 20 years. These long-term efforts came to fruition in around 2010, when a string of new high-quality varieties began to hit the market. In recent years, Japan has seen the dawn of an era marked by incredibly fierce competition among rice varieties.
According to the agriculture ministry, Japan had 795 newly registered varieties of rice in 2018.
"Japanese people's tastes also have changed," Otsubo pointed out.
When evaluating rice in the 1980s, texture -- which takes into account firmness and stickiness -- was considered the most important factor. But in recent years, varieties of rice similar to Koshihikari, which has a moderate level of firmness and stickiness, have been developed in many parts of the country. Consequently, newer rice varieties have placed a greater emphasis on aspects such as flavor and luster of the grain to differentiate themselves from rivals, according to Otsubo.
There also have been cases in which different varieties of rice originated in the same area. Miyagi Prefecture, where Hitomebore and Sasamusubi were developed, is also the birthplace of Datemasayume, a relatively soft variety that made its full-scale market debut in 2018.
Meanwhile, Niigata Prefecture, one of the nation's leading rice production regions, fully launched Shinnosuke in 2017, aiming to make the new variety achieve a high reputation like the prefecture's famous Koshihikari rice grown in the Uonuma region. Shinnosuke has a sweeter flavor than Koshihikari and its grains are bigger.
"What consumers want is constantly changing," a Niigata prefectural government official said. "We'll keep developing new varieties of rice."
Blending adds depth to flavor
Variety and provenance are not the only things that can influence the taste of a bowl of rice.
Takashi Hashimoto, president of Kyoto-based Hachidaime Gihey Co., which sells rice products for gift purposes, believes there is no single variety that offers the perfect balance of every element including luster, aroma, stickiness and sweetness.
"Rice blending can harness the distinctive characteristics of each variety and create a complementary effect, adding a depth in flavors that can't be found in just one single variety," Hashimoto said. Blending also makes it possible to ensure a stable supply of flavorful rice, which can be difficult with a certain variety of rice or crops grown only in one particular region, he added.
Rice shops have developed blending techniques to sell products to restaurants appropriate to their specialties. For example, rice with less stickiness works well for sushi restaurants, while ryotei luxury establishments prefer rice with a rich flavor and white gloss.
However, imported rice was blended with domestic varieties when Japan suffered poor crops in 1993, and the resulting products did not receive a favorable response. "That has given a negative image to blended rice in general," Hashimoto said.
His company opened a ryotei restaurant in Kyoto's Gion district in 2009. Meticulous care is taken to adjust factors such as how rice is blended and to what extent the grains are polished, as rice has differing degrees of moisture depending on the season.
"Coffee and whiskey can be even tastier when they are blended," Hashimoto said. "We will diligently serve delicious rice so that customers can trust blended rice."
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