— Char Nolan

Well, uh, let me start by saying that, uh, culturally speaking, right from a, from a Japanese perspective, uh, sushi is based on white rice. Um, white rice, uh, like rice in general, is mostly carb a source of carbohydrates. In the case of white rice, there's, I mean, it's not a significant amount of other stuff. I mean, uh, uh, that comes along with that. Certainly there are some, um, smaller amounts of, um, uh, of, of nutrients. But, um, the, the, as the, the, the aesthetic of the eating experience, uh, becomes primary with sushi. And, um, so therefore, um, uh, you know, arguably the, the nutritional profile, uh, of the rice that's chosen is sacrificed, okay? For the, the aesthetic of the eating experience. All right? Which then brings us to brown rice. Okay? So if, if we wanna talk about, uh, a couple of broad categories of rice. One is gonna be polished rice or milled rice, or white rice, the resulting white rice or brown rice, uh, which has the brown layer, um, and, uh, um, germ and endosperm, uh, intact, usually there, there are different types in the middle here on this spectrum of rice. But let's just talk about simply these two, two categories here. Um, brown rice is gonna be by far, uh, you know, the more nutrient dense choice. And, um, you know, I think in this, uh, in this day and age, uh, to make sushi outta brown rice is quite acceptable. It's quite fine. Um, understand, you know, as, um, uh, I, I mentioned earlier in the program today, that when we make an ingredient change, that we should expect a change in the resulting product. And so, in this quick case, if we are gonna shift from the traditional white rice, Japanese style rice to a Japanese style brown rice, um, that the results are gonna be, uh, more brown rice, uh, esque, uh, meaning it's gonna be chewer chewier and, and, you know, firmer as a result of the brand layer. Um, but the nutrient profile is gonna be much, um, more favorable, right? You know, than, than the white rice. And so we've got, uh, the brand, uh, itself, uh, a source of, um, uh, significant, you know, meaningful, um, fiber in the diet. And, uh, fiber is one of my favorite F words. Uh, it is so important, um, and, uh, you know, helping, uh, I mean, you know, we, we talk about these, these, sometimes these very simple sort of, um, uh, correlations, like, it, it, it, um, um, you know, tempers blood sugar, you know, this sort of thing, which it does, but fiber does so much more in, in terms of our, uh, internal goodness. Um, and then there are other, uh, phytonutrients, you know, micronutrients that come along with brown rice, uh, a a set of, of, uh, minerals and, and vitamins are associated with the, uh, uh, less processed or unprocessed rice at that stage. And, uh, so, uh, yeah, but brown rice is the way to go. Um, as a quick answer, now, let me shift back to white rice for a moment. Okay? We can bolster the nutrient profile of white rice through the addition of other grains, and I'll, I'll give you a, a couple of examples. Okay? So one is quinoa, uh, and it doesn't matter what color you use, uh, but, but quinoa cooks up, um, very nicely together with rice. And, uh, that addition can, uh, bolster the nutrient profile of the resulting rice, and you can still cook it to, uh, maintain some nice texture, um, as far as that, that, uh, eating aesthetic is concerned. Okay? Um, millet, uh, is another grain that comes to mind, uh, that can be combined with, uh, rice, uh, to add some interest, some, some texture interest, uh, at a subtle level as well as some flavor interest, and certainly, uh, a more interesting nutrient profile. Okay? Now, within this bigger context of rice in Japan, I'd like to add that, you know, generally speaking, we associate white rice with Japanese food culture. Um, but in Japan, there's a, a, a long history of combining other grains and even legumes with rice, uh, to, uh, to, to bolster. Its, um, its interest, uh, and its nutritional profile. And, uh, you know, millet is one example. Uh, buckwheat, um, well, but buckwheat comes a buckwheat, yeah, maybe not the best example with rice, but bulkheed is another grain or pseudo grain that has a long history in, in, uh, Japanese cuisine. Um, and then we have beans that are added as well, uh, in, in some preparations. But, um, uh, there is a history of that, I guess is what I'm saying. In Japan, uh, quinoa is a more modern sort of, uh, uh, grain in the context of, of, um, uh, let's say Japanese, you know, the, the intersection with Japanese cooking and the combination of quinoa with Japanese rice is one that I see more in, say, the United States. Um, not something that I've seen in, in Japan, okay? Not that it doesn't exist today, but it's gonna be a more modern sort of iteration of, of, uh, rice cookery. But that's certainly a way to up the nutrient profile. I hope that helps. Thank you very much, char. Okay.