Did You Hear About The New Dictionary Dedicated To Rice?

Have you ever fallen short of words to describe rice? If yes, you have a lot in common with certain scientists! Turns out, a national research centre and a private company in Japan are collaborating on definitions for a rice terminology dictionary to ‘accurately and descriptively’ catalogue the words that break down the taste, smell and texture of cooked rice in the Japanese language.

According to a report by South China Morning Post, it all started when food researcher Fumiyo Hayakawa and others were engaged in a long discussion over freshly cooked rice, in early January. They made efforts to come up with different terminologies that describe firmness or the tenderness of cooked rice and other significant traits.

Hayakawa’s team at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation (Naro) in Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture,  is collaborating with Itochu Food Sales and Marketing, a subsidiary of major trading house Itochu Corporation, to create the dictionary. 

According to reports, a dozen researchers who are experts in evaluation tasted 32 rice products; these taste tests involved more than 110 types of rice, such as freshly cooked rice, day-old rice, freshly cooked rice that has been left out for some time, packaged rice, convenience store rice balls and a lot more options. 

The testers collected more than 7,000 terms to distil their descriptions into approximately 100 defined terms. Hayakawa said some of the descriptions are singular, such as "a taste like natto" (fermented soybeans) or "an aroma like boiled eggs." "If we put them into a dictionary, we can pick up on characteristics that have been overlooked until now because they could not be contextualized," said Hayakawa.

This initiative goes beyond standardization as the results will be used to influence the development and purchasing of new rice varieties and to promote certain variants. It is also being designed as something more than just a reference tool which can boost global appreciation of rice bring forth the individuality of certain varieties and enhance consumer understanding. 

Toshiya Amano, general manager of the rice division at Itochu Food Sales and Marketing, broke it down further. "For example, some people consider 'fresh rice' to mean 'sticky rice,'" Amano said. The dictionary is set to be completed by March 2025 and will be published on Naro's website