Toyama Koshihikari Rice 1kg | Premium Japanese Short Grain Rice

Koshihikari is the most well known Japanese cultivar of short-grain rice, so it commands premium prices. It is normally used in sushi restaurants and more established places. Depending on the harvest time, region etc some koshihikari could be quite expensive, and small amounts are sometimes given as a gift. This one is probably the best readily available in the UK and is good value of money, although the price seems to be going up... Unless your staple food has been rice, you likely won't know the difference immediately. But after going through a few kgs of koshihikari, it's hard to go back to "normal" rice. The texture and flavour are so much better. But to get the best out of this rice, you need to know how to cook this properly, and it's not quite straightforward. This is best cooked in a claypot (also known as "donabe" in Japanese) made specifically for rice, with an inner lid. Unlike electric rice cookers and steel pans, the double-lid rice claypots cook significantly better, by retaining the heat and radiating it gently to cook the grains, and steaming them in the end. This is how proper Japanese restaurants cook their rice and why it tastes so good. Search for "Kamado-san" by Nagatani-en online, which is fantastic and cooks restaurant-quality rice with little effort. Wash the rice, soak for 30 min, then cook in claypot with 1:1 ratio rice to water. Put the gas hob on low to medium. Once you see steam coming out (10-15 mins), turn off the heat and wait for another 30 minutes before eating. The claypot should be seasoned before first use, and always completely dry prior cooking. There are also cast-iron rice cookers but they are significantly heavier. I never tried cooking it with a single-lid cast iron pot like a Le Creuset, but maybe it's worth a short. Of course, an electric rice cooker or even a pan would do the job, but sadly the result is not the same.

love this rice short grain comes out nice and sticky smooth and good flavour made in original steam pot like a staub 15 min simmer in oven or stove then we like to leave it for 10 min off the heat or out of the oven so it steams makes perfect fluffy rice every time

it's soft and taste good. we like it and would buy it again

I consider myself a Japanese rice connoisseur, this rice is great and easy to cook. But honestly, it’s really overpriced and you’ll get similar results from considerably cheaper brands. Did a taste test on a Japanese friend and they couldn’t tell the difference

Well priced. Good quality and quantity. Recommend highly.

Excellent quality sush rice. If I could give it 10 stars, I would. Excellent stickiness and spreads nicely with the Emma sushi seasoning. I use the 80% rule. Keep rice, and 80% of water. Excellent rice all the time.

Great rice. Never knew that rice comes in so many different “types”. The taste is one of the best I have ever tasted. Cooked in a rice cooker it comes out just as I like it. Cooked, a little sticky, yet separate. The value for money is superb. Expensive, just try it.

This is hands down the best Japonica (Japanese short grain rice) I've been able to get hold of in the UK, as most of what we can get is grown in Italy and just packaged as if it were Japanese. The taste is distinct and very pleasant. It works well both seasoned as a sushi rice, or served on the side of something else such as curry. Very happy with the quality. It is a terrible shame that the price increased from £4.50 to £9.99 since the end of December. At the lower price it was still more expensive than other options but justifiable given the quality, however now I'm not sure it's THAT much better for the price, and so the value for money just isn't the same.