Grains ── Rice varieties
Koshi Tanrei
Niigata's cross of two celebrated sake rices
Said to be a large-grained sake rice bred in Niigata by crossing Yamada Nishiki and Gohyakumangoku, inheriting traits of both and prized for daiginjo. Said to have been registered in 2004, positioned within Niigata for premium-grade sake.
Lineage
What it's made of
Said to be a large-grained sake rice, not small, with a linear starchy core. Said to sit between Gohyakumangoku's 'clean and crisp' sake quality and Yamada Nishiki's 'somewhat sweeter, fuller' character, described as soft with a rounded body. Said to resist breaking during polishing, with enough durability to withstand the heavy milling daiginjo demands. Its aroma is also said to fall somewhere between Yamada Nishiki's and Gohyakumangoku's.
How it's made
Said to have been hand-crossed in 1996 by the Niigata Agricultural Experiment Station from Gohyakumangoku and Yamada Nishiki, entering trial cultivation from 2001 and filed for variety registration in 2004 — bred as a sake rice for daiginjo meant to inherit the strengths of both parents. Roughly a decade passed between the cross and its registration, spent carefully assessing the starchy-core rate and stem strength inherited from both parents. Said to be grown under contract only in limited areas within Niigata.
Why it took this shape
Niigata is said to be Gohyakumangoku's main growing region, yet is said to have wanted a higher-grade sake rice that could withstand heavier polishing. Positioned as the prefecture's only variety dedicated to daiginjo, it's said to have been meant to let Niigata brew daiginjo without sourcing Yamada Nishiki from elsewhere. Today, many of Niigata's major breweries are said to brew a limited annual daiginjo using this rice. Daiginjo brewed from Koshi Tanrei is also said to be a favored choice as a gift.
Before you go
- Foods to look for in autumnA guide to foods often seen in Japan around autumn — returning bonito, Pacific saury, new-crop rice, matsutake, chestnuts, and tsukimi dango — with rough pointers for finding them.
- Regional harvest food festivalsAcross Japan, harvest festivals and "taste festivals" featuring local produce and seafood are said to be commonly held each autumn, with stalls selling new rice, seasonal fruit, and local dishes.
Dishes in the same style
- AkamaiAn ancient category of rice said to carry a reddish bran layer; low-yielding but tied, it's said, to Shinto harvest rituals still kept at shrines like those on Tsushima. Traces of red rice are said to have been found at Jomon- and Yayoi-era sites, making it among Japan's oldest rice lineages.
- AkitakomachiA Koshihikari cross bred for Akita's cool climate, said to carry a lighter sweetness and moderate stickiness, long favored as an everyday table rice. Named, it's said, after the legendary beauty Ono no Komachi, it ranks among Japan's most widely planted varieties.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Known source
- Known source: Niigata
Said to have been bred at Niigata's agricultural research institute.
Root style
- Yamada NishikiOften called the 'king of sake rice', said to have a large starchy core that withstands heavy polishing, prized above all for ginjo and daiginjo sake. Said to have been registered as a variety in Hyogo in 1936, and still accounts for the largest sake-rice output.
- GohyakumangokuNiigata's signature sake rice, said to suit the crisp, dry style of local sake, with the second-largest production after Yamada Nishiki nationwide. Said to have been bred in Niigata in 1957, widely used for sake with a crisp, dry character.