Source · farm
Niigata Koshihikari farm
Uonuma district, Niigata prefecture, JP
Placeholder farm entry — Uonuma Koshihikari is the rice variety most prized in Japan and the benchmark for sushi rice. Snow-melt irrigation, cool nights, and a single harvest in September give grains that hold a defined shape and a fragrant sweetness. New-crop (*shinmai*) commands a premium for two months before the rest of the year's stock is graded.
The other half of nigiri — the shari — depends on this rice variety more than on any single fish. Niigata’s specific microclimate (cold Sea-of-Japan winters, snow-fed mountain water, hot dry summers) produces a Koshihikari with more starch and more flavour than Koshihikari grown anywhere else in the country.
Products
- Koshihikari rice
- shinmai (new-crop rice)
In season
- Koshihikari · Sep – Oct
Used in · 11
- BibimbapRice, vegetables, gochujang, an egg — a Korean bowl that's photographed for its arrangement and eaten by mixing it apart.
- CongeeRice simmered with water (or stock) into a savoury porridge — China's universal breakfast dish, with as many regional names as provinces (*jook*, *zhou*, *muay*, *bubur*).
- GyudonThin-sliced beef simmered with onions in a sweet-soy dashi, ladled over a bowl of hot rice — Japan's three-minute lunch.
- Katsu CurryPanko-crusted pork cutlet over rice, smothered in dark Japanese curry — a salaryman lunch that became a global comfort dish.
- KimbapSesame-oil-seasoned rice rolled in nori around pickled radish, egg, spinach, and ham or tuna — Korea's portable picnic and lunchbox dish.
- Nasi GorengDay-old rice fried with kecap manis and sambal, crowned with a fried egg — Indonesia's national leftover.
- OnigiriHand-pressed rice balls wrapped in nori, often hiding a piece of salted salmon, pickled plum, or bonito flakes — Japan's portable lunch for twelve centuries.
- SamgyeopsalThick-cut pork belly grilled at the table, wrapped in lettuce with ssamjang, garlic, and a slice of raw chili — Korea's most-eaten dinner-out dish.
- TonkatsuThick-cut pork loin in panko, deep-fried to a sandcastle-crisp coat — Japan's Western-cuisine import that became more Japanese than any of its sources.
- TteokbokkiCylindrical rice cakes simmered in a fiery gochujang sauce with fish cake and scallion — Seoul's street snack that became a national obsession.
- UnadonGrilled freshwater eel glazed with sweet-soy *tare*, served over rice in a lacquer box — Japan's summer-stamina dish, eaten on the Day of the Ox.