Nozomi Super Premium Short Grain Rice, 15-Pound

I've been making/eating Japanese rice for over twenty years. Having lived in NYC most of my life there were many places to source fine Japanese goods so I've been a little spoiled by access to the best ingredients; having moved out west a couple of years ago sometimes ingredients are harder to find. There were no reviews on this rice on the day I purchased it and I'm so glad I took a chance; this is hands down the best Japanese rice I have had in a very, very long time. Unusually fine short grain. I made a batch the first night it arrived intending to pair it with some leftover chicken curry. When the rice was done, I went to take a taste and sweet Jesus!, was that good. Firm bite yet tender yield. A bare hint of sweetness. In a word - delicate. Another taste, then a bowl. Needed not a drop of shoyu or anything - naked perfection. I wound up forgetting all about the curry.

I saw reviews of people comparing this brand to the other brand in the yellow bag. I forget the name. I was buying that but the price went up and I saw this one and it was a good price. When I got it I read all the info and realized it’s the exact same as that other one and that’s because IT’S THE SAME COMPANY! Lol They just changed the name on this one. I don’t see how you would think one is better. All they did is change the packaging. My advice? Buy whichever is cheaper at the moment. They cook and taste exactly the same!

As a very uninformed but life-long rice consumer, I must admit this rice is much tastier than the run-of-the-mill calrose rice I usually get from Hmart. I grew up in a Korean immigrant household which bought whatever came in the largest bag at our local Korean grocery, so I know little of the higher regarded Japanese rice varieties. I am not necessarily sold on permanently converting but will pay more attention to rice varieties in the future. This rice is worth a try if you're interested.

I bought this rice to save money, since I rarely eat rice on its own, or use it for sushi. I make two cups at a time in a Zojirushi rice cooker. It works well accompanying a main course, but is otherwise pretty unremarkable. It doesn't have a unique texture or flavor, but it's a good value for the money. Grown in USA. Edit: I updated my review to 4 stars, since I have improved my impression of this rice by altering the preparation. I had better results by using filtered water for the first rinse & brief soak, washing with tap water as usual, then soaking in filtered water for 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to rice cooker. I will likely keep buying this rice at its current price.

I just made a batch for sushi. Previously I've used Nishiki, Kokuho Rose, Rice Select and a few others and they all were very similar in preparation and taste. They are all good, but I like Nozomi much better. The taste is not drastically different but I do like it better. Cooking it is much easier. I thoroughly rinse all my rice when making it for sushi. Nozomi doesn't foam up in the rice cooker, you don't even actually see the water boil or see the amounts of steam come out of the cooker. I was a little worried. When it was done the rice looked good, it had a nice consistency when transferred it from the rice cooker to another bowl to mix the rice vinegar/salt/sugar mixture. When it was time to make the sushi Nozomi is much nicer and easier to work with spreading it on the nori sheets. You have much more control over how little or much rice you want to use. it spreads very easily. It is properly sticky for sushi not too little or too much. I didn't expect any difference there. I make a lot of sushi so I will be ordering again before this bag runs out. I also plan to try Tamanishiki and Yume also grown by the same company.

Extremely picky about rice and man does this one hit the spot!! My bag was super flavorful and delicious on its own, but a word to the wise this will get you spoiled!! It is great with furikake or used in sushi making, and also great on it's own!!! I know it is a bit expensive, but to me it is worth it!

We moved here from Japan and really struggled to find rice that tastes like the one in Japan. Imported rice from Japan is prohibitively expensive due to tariffs so US-grown rice is the only alternative for normal families. We tried so many brands with 5 star ratings and while the rice wasn't bad, it didn't taste like the one back home. Until we tried that one. We cook it in a Japanese rice cooker on "Koshi Hikari" and it comes out perfect. The taste is like what we had in Japan from mid-range quality rice. i.e: What everyone eats at home.

I purchased a bag from Amazon to try it out and honestly, I'm switching back to my old favorite Shirakiku Koshihikari. This rice wasn't bad for taste and fresh out of the cooker it's not bad at all but there's a lot of small things. When you take a cup of this rice out of the bag the first thing I noticed was the ton of broken grains. I do mean ton btw, at least half of the cup were broken grains. Don't get me wrong, you don't expect to have perfect grains the whole time but every cup had at least half broken grains. The washing of this rice is intense. Normally, I wash 4 times. With just 4 cups of this rice, I ended up washing a total of 7 times to get the same clearness as my other rice after 4 times. Also, when you're washing this rice, you're going to have to take some of the rice and just rub it with your hands to get all of the milling process of it. This rice does not reheat very well on it's own. Even adding a bit more water in the rice cooker or less water doesn't change this. The taste isn't bad so I can't complain there. However, I went ahead and bought a few more bags of Shirakiku and I've been mixing them together because who wants to waste a 15lb bag of rice. It's getting the job done for now but definitely won't be ordering again.