Hacker News Reader

Comment by solarmist | Hacker News Reader

"It's the best-tasting rice in the world" is typical Japanese hyperbole in the same way they brag about having four seasons.

I'm sure it's excellent, but in the end, it's just rice. A blind taste test would be random noise. I sure can't remember there being a material different in the rice I ate in Japan vs good Japanese food in Cali.

Hell, even if you included jasmine or basmati, I'll bet most western people wouldn't even be able to tell those apart from Japanese short-grained rice.

Edit: western people

View on HN

Please don't project your own opinions of a staple that people eat sometimes 3 meals a day onto others.

I'll beat your blind taste test everyday of the week just by rolling the rice around in my mouth

EDIT fwiw you can vaguely bucket 1.4 billion people into "eat basmati" 673M+1.4B people into "eat jasmine" and 150M+50M into "eat short grain" rice which is well over a third of the planet

I agree with you. I can tell them apart (Not Japanese vs. California rice, though).

I should have qualified that to randomly selected Americans/Europeans. And that they could understand each type of rice is different but wouldn't have a clue which is which.

I would enjoy a California be Japanese blind taste test. My mother in law has started buying Vietnamese-grown Japanese short grain - I think I can taste the difference but it could also be the cooking method

As a cash strapped student I would buy Korean short grain as it was cheaper

Yeah, the cooking method (and the water it's cooked in) has a much larger effect than the origin of the rice.

I mean, different kinds of rice do have clearly different textures, and basmati and jasmine are both aromatic in a way that koshikihari is not. I think people should be able to tell them apart easily (including just from "how easy is this to eat with chopsticks? could I imagine clumping this into the base of nigiri sushi? could I imagine this in a biryani?") but I think that's very different from deciding that one is better. To me your statement is like saying people cannot tell the difference a French baguette, focaccia and Japanese milk bread because "it's just bread". I think you wouldn't confuse them unless you were really distracted.

I agree with you and can tell, but I doubt most people around me could. They could understand each type of rice is different but wouldn't have a clue which is which.

It was a bit of hyperbole, but I think you'd be surprised how undifferentiated people's pallets can be if they aren't eating something constantly.

> it’s just rice

Tell that to my Japanese wife, LOL

We also buy the “Japanese” rice grown in California and she is never fully satisfied with it.

It’s like audiophiles if you’re convinced of something not amount of persuasion or facts change your mind.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com