March 2, 2013

Mori no Kuma-San (Mr. Bear in the Woods) (Continued)/森のくまさん(続き)

My family had Morino Kuma-San rice for supper last night.
家族で昨日の夕飯に森のくまさんを食べました。

Mori no Kuma-san rice, after milled:
精米後の森のくまさん:
Compare it with the Koshihikari rice produced in 2008.

2008年度産のコシヒカリと比べて下さい。

And, compare it with Koshiibuki rice.
Top: Mori no Kuma-san:
Bottom:  Koshiibuki rice produced in 2012
また、コシイブキとも比べて下さい。
上: 森のくまさん:
下: 2012年度産コシイブキ:
Quite frankly, I really can't tell the difference in shape.
正直言って、形の違いを見分けるのは私にはできません。

I washed five go (5 x 180 ml) of rice.
五合研ぎました。
Just cooked rice:
炊き立てのご飯:
As you can imagine, it was good.
ご想像のように、美味しかったです。
Later, I made one small onigiri with some salt on the surface.
後で、表面に塩をつけて小さなおにぎりを一つ作りました。
This was good, too.
これも美味しかったです。

This morning, I tasted some of it without reheating.
今朝、少し、温めないで試食しました。
This was good, too.
これも美味しかったです。

It is often said that you can tell the flavor of rice when it has cooled.  (This is true of almost any food, I guess).
ご飯の味は冷めた時に分かるとよく言われます(どんな食べ物でも同じだと思いますが)。

Conclusions:  Mori no Kuma-san tastes very good.
結論: 森のくまさんは、とても美味しいです。

I bought the rice from Tanaka Beikoku Ten, located  in Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu.  I previously bought Koshihikari rice produced in Miyazaki and others from this rice store.

このお米は、九州の長崎県にある田中米穀店で購入しました。以前、このお米屋さんから宮崎産のコシヒカリを買ったことがあります。

NOTE:  I have no affiliation with this rice store.
注: 私はこのお米屋さんとは何の関係もありません。

7 comments:

  1. I'm glad you liked the rice! From your description it sounds delicious. I had no idea that the quality of rice can be told when it has cooled.
    I wish they imported here more rice from Japan (and cheaper!). Accidentally I have just brought home another 5kg bag of Yumenishiki: this is the best I have found in Switzerland, but as a foreigner I am not a big specialist so I really love it.
    I use a European rice-cooker (I will bring a Japanese one when I go next time to Japan, I have heard they sell rice-cookers adapted to European 220v at the airport! I must check it of course before) and it also has a measuring mug with "go". I have always wondered why it's 180ml and not 200 or 150 or any "round" amount and now I know!

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  2. Sissi: I hope the rice cooker is a good one (IH?).

    I want to talk a little about the units associated with rice in the near future.

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  3. The rice looks very glossy and shiny - appetizing.

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  4. Kiki: Yes, glossy and shiny. That reminds me. I have to talk about how the ranking is decided in a future post!

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  5. Hiroyuki, it's not a very good one... It was quite good for a beginner of Japanese rice ;-) I bought it 4 years ago (or maybe 5?). Now that I have tasted rice in Japan I know I need a better rice-cooker (moreover mine started to dry and burn more and more the rice at the bottom...). Alas, the cheapest Japanese good quality rice-cooker costs here about 350 dollars, so either I will buy it in Japan or I will try to buy by internet (a British shop sells the famous Zojirushi brand). I plan also checking in Paris when I go there (probably sooner than to Japan).

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  6. Hiroyuki: Your rice looks fabulous!! Sounds expensive, but I bet it was worth it.

    The milling station was a new sight for me. I wonder if freshly milled rice tastes better than pre-milled rice... could you tell a big difference?

    I remember reading Oishinbo, and it said that apparently there can be a difference.

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  7. Anonymous: I don't think I could tell a big difference, provided that you keep the rice in a cool dark place, but of course, the fresher the better.

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