medium-grain rice The international community has now established standards for the description of rice, long-, medium-, and short-grain. Medium-grain rice has grains that are two and a half to three times as long as they are wide. It may be japonica or indica. A medium-grain indica is the preferred rice for Mexican rice; most Japanese rice as well as the classic Italian risotto rices and Spanish paella rices are medium-grain. About 30 percent of the rice grown in the United States is medium-grain.
