Rice Rip-off

[Taro Toporific]

Japanese boil-over: rice ravagers go against the grain
Nov 01 Wall St Journal | In Koriyama, Japan
The scandal began earlier this year when a suspicious shopper complained that her rice looked funny... Labels represented it as 100 per cent top-grade, locally grown rice. But he confessed he had mixed the high-grade rice with cheaper, lower-quality kernels. Worse, much of it was American rice - an insult to Japanese, who consider their rice far superior.
"I could tell just by looking at it that it wasn't made in Japan," says Yoshikazu Hasegawa, an Agriculture Ministry inspector called in to examine the rice, adding that the foreign kernels looked way too long. "Here was this delicious rice, mixed up with a bunch of foreign rice," he says.

[plaid_knight]

I wish that foreign rice, produce, and vegetables were widely available in Japan. It'd be nice if prices were lower ...

[Caustic Saint]

I wish that foreign rice, produce, and vegetables were widely available in Japan. It'd be nice if prices were lower ...

But, but...then quality would be lower! People wouldn't be as healthy! They wouldn't live as long! Japan would lose it's status as the best country in the world! It'd be anarchy!

Is that what you want?!?

[kamome]

I think Thai long-stemmed rice beats Japanese rice for taste. And there isn't much of a difference in taste between California white rice and Japanese rice.

Has anyone tried genmai (brown rice)? Good stuff, like eating whole wheat bread. Also beats Japanese white rice IMO, and healthier too.

[GomiGirl]

Wild rice with brown rice is a long time fave of mine.. but wild rice (actually a grass seed and not a rice) is soooo expensive here.

Photo of wild rice below