People Now Choose Rice by Taste, from Rice Sommelier to Custom Blending

While people have traditionally purchased rice based on price and familiarity, a growing number of individuals are now seeking out their own personal rice preferences. With an increase in single- and two-person households leading to fewer meals cooked at home, subscription services delivering 500-gram portions of rice on a regular basis have emerged. Rice specialty shops are also drawing attention, where a rice sommelier recommends varieties tailored to individual palates, custom-blends rice according to consumer preferences, and even mills the grain on the spot for maximum freshness. In Japan, where a culture of enjoying rice based on personal taste is well established, specialty stores sell varieties from across the country in small quantities and recommend rice suited to consumers' dietary lifestyles. This vividly captures the "era of preference," where even the daily bowl of rice varies in flavor, aroma, and texture depending on the variety.
  The efforts of experts to achieve the ultimate rice flavor do not stop at choosing the grain. We tracked the efforts of Japanese artisans who set out in search of the best rice and the finest taste. At an eighth-generation rice specialty restaurant in Kyoto, Japan, carefully selected rice from all over the country is combined so that the seven characteristics of rice—such as sweetness, stickiness, gloss, and aroma—are in harmony. At a sushi restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo, a special milling technique that brings out the flavor of the rice completes a taste optimized for sushi. At a restaurant operated by a famous rice cooker manufacturer, rice tailored to individual tastes is offered with free refills through cooking technology that adjusts heat and pressure differently. We uncover the secret that elevates a single bowl of rice into an art of gastronomy.
  Rice is opening up new possibilities through variety development, extending to health, cuisine, and even responses to climate change. The National Institute of Crop Science is continuously researching new varieties that consider consumers' diverse tastes and climate adaptability. From people taking charge of their health through "Dodamssal," a functional rice that helps manage blood sugar, to farmers attempting to cultivate long-grain (Indica) rice domestically, which is ideal for fried rice and curry, we shed light on the new possibilities of rice beyond the dining table.
In addition, we visit research sites in Thailand, Japan, and Korea to examine the fierce efforts of each country to maintain stable rice production amidst climate change such as heatwaves and heavy downpours.

SBS Special Documentary <The Rice> Part 2, "Rice, Cooking Taste," highlights the diverse transformations and possibilities of rice, ranging from a new dietary culture of choosing rice and technologies completing its flavor, to its expansion into health and cuisine, and responses to climate change. Following Part 1, broadcaster Choi Hwa-jung will once again take charge of narration in Part 2, delivering the diverse world of flavors contained in daily rice and the changes brought by rice in a warm and delicate voice.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.