Vol.35 Shinmai-新米

Hi it' Ayumi! We have a lot of nice foods in autumn in Japan. Rice is one of them and it's the time of the first new rice harvested of the year! 

Today, I'd like to share about RICE!

Shinmai - 新米 - The first rice of the year

You might have seen notifications or stickers saying "Shinmai" on rice bags recently. It's usually written in Chinese character like ”新米". That means it's the first rice of the year from the farm.

What is the definition of Shinmai? 

According to the Food Labeling Standards of the Food Labeling Law, rice that is harvested in the fall, milled and packaged by December 31 of that year is considered new rice.

In Japan, rice is gradually harvested from west to north. There are differences in the time when rice is harvested, milled, packaged and put on the market depending on the region.

In addition, if the post-harvest process such as natural drying takes time, the shipping time will be delayed accordingly.

However, since rice is basically harvested once a year, the rice that has been milled and packaged after January 1st of the following year is actually the same as new rice. This is just a display rule.

Rice harvested in the fall will be on the market until the next year's harvest.

How to storage rice? 

At room temperature: Store it in a cool place, where the temperature and humidity are low and it is not exposed to sunlight.

In the refrigerator: Store in the vegetable room. It is said that the taste is twice as long as it is stored at room temperature, so if you can secure space, put it in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.

Insects, which are also the natural enemy of rice, occur when the temperature is 18 ° C or higher and the conditions of high humidity are met. It is almost inactive below 18 ° C, but it does not die, so it is important to keep it in an environment that insects do not like, whether it is stored at room temperature or refrigerated.

Also, do not place strong odors such as peppers, coffee or oil nearby otherwise rice gets the odors easily.

New rice is very fresh and rich! Please try when you find new rice package!

So, when the new rice season is over, will the rice become less delicious?
Actually, that was a story decades ago. Now, thanks to the remarkable progress in storage technology and rice milling technology, you can still eat deliciously even after the new rice season.

During the new rice season, taste the new rice deliciously, and after that, be careful about how to store it and enjoy the delicious rice.

Some language lesson:) 

1. We generally call rice "Okome" or "Kome" in Japanese. 米 or こめ in writing. But when it's cooked, we call it "Gohan". Gohan also means overall "food" so it might be confusing sometimes:)

2. The word, Shinmai 新米, is used for someone who is a new comer or beginners. For example, "He's a Shinmai dad, so he's practicing changing diapers!", or "The Shinmai coach had a bitter experience of losing the game".

Have a good rice :)