alt Hacker News> As mentioned, I've done taste tests across various options and I can definitely tell the difference, which is why I pay more.
Can you tell the difference between Japanese brands or only between Japanese and non Japanese origin rice?
Is rice a significant percentage of food cost in Japan? Coming from a culture that uses less rice, the cost of price verses the cost of protein makes it just about a rounding error when cooking.
Now butter on the other hand has just about become a luxury good in New Zealand when it was once cheap, plentiful and extremely high quality.
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> Is rice a significant percentage of food cost in Japan?
At the height of rice prices, rice cost about the same per kg as domestic chicken thighs. That's a problem when rice is meant to be an affordable staple food.
> the cost of price verses the cost of protein makes it just about a rounding error when cooking
In the context of someone who is budget conscious typical meat prices likely place the vast majority of it entirely out of the question. Similarly a much larger proportion of calorie intake is likely to be made up by a nonperishable staple under those circumstances.
I can taste the difference between Japanese brands and, because we have a local Japanese grocer with various regional rice options, I get to eat the one I enjoy the most.
But in general, I’ve not found non-Japanese rice that tastes as good, although we don’t have much variety of non-Japanese Japonica around (I won’t get into the general homogenization issue of products in Australian supermarkets).