Sweet Rice

Often called glutinous rice or sticky rice, but marketed widely in America under the name sweet rice, this is an altogether different type of rice than the short-, medium-, or long-grain rice that Chinese eat every day. In contrast to everyday rice, which is 15–26 percent amylose (that feature of the starch chemistry that keeps the grains separate), so-called sweet rice has no amylose whatsoever and is 100 percent amylopectin, which in layman’s terms means it sticks together! Rather than call it sticky rice, the packers chose to label it sweet rice. The sweetness is not much more pronounced than any good-quality, fresh, short-grain rice, but in stickiness it is a standout.