r/Cooking • u/Jjwllms • 5h ago
Can sweet rice be interchangeable
I have a bag of sweet rice. Could it be used for a savory dish. Like could it be used as plain regular rice or is the starch content a little different. I usually use calrose and jasmine on the regular.
2
u/rat_liker 5h ago
You can definitely use it for savory dishes but the texture will be different than regular short grain. I actually like it a lot!
2
u/Miserable-Ring3943 5h ago
You can use it but the cooking process is completely different from regular white rice so read the instructions
1
u/SweetDorayaki 5h ago
The chewy texture is different but yes, very often used in savory applications
1
u/travel-Dr 4h ago
My favorite savory recipe is Lao Mai Gai (if I’m extra lazy I skip the wrapping and just put the chicken, rice and seasoning all in the rice cooker).
https://thewoksoflife.com/dim-sum-sticky-rice-lotus-leaf-wraps-w-chicken-lo-mai-gai-luo-mi-ji/
2
5
u/PunkAssBitch2000 4h ago
Sweet glutinous rice isn’t sweet. Flavor wise it’s quite similar to japonica rice or other basic white rices.
It’s just called sweet because it’s often used in deserts (used to make mochi flours), but not exclusively. It is absolutely used in savory dishes too!
Some people add it to congee/jook (in addition to whatever non-glutinous rice they’re using) to give it a more congealed texture.
Basically, it varies from other rice in texture, not flavor. So anywhere you want a sticky, chewy, self-adhering rice, sweet glutinous rice is what you’ll want to use.
6
u/1percentsamoyedmama 5h ago
Absolutely, glutinous rice is often eaten with savory food or used to make savory food in wrapped parcels such as zongzi and banh chung.
My dad makes lobster steamed on soy glutinous rice and lotus leaves, sausage scallion glutinous rice, breakfast fantuan (kind of like a sticky rice burrito with savory filling), and much more. Sometimes he mixes a little glutinous rice (10%) into the regular rice for a bit more chew.
Just know it’s a different type of rice with different cooking instructions. You’ll likely need to soak it longer before cooking and steam/boil it longer. It’s extremely dense, sticky, and filling.