If you love rice, this Factory’s for you
If you’ve been to Japan, you know that the rice they serve — even the musubis at convenience stores — is far superior to any rice you eat in Hawaii. Once you know the difference, it’s hard to come home to tasteless, textureless, lifeless rice.
You don’t even know when your bulk bag of rice from California was milled, do you? Nobody does. But in Japan, milling dates are printed on the package so you know how fresh it is. The taste and smell of the rice grains start to degrade as soon as they are milled due to oxidation, so buying a bag more than a week old is frowned upon.
Well, now you can get freshly-milled, high-quality rice right in Kakaako. The Rice Factory is already a year old, but their reputation has been gaining ground in recent months as people try their products and return for more.
You can choose from four basic varieties: Nanatsuboshi and Yumepirika from Hokkaido, Tsuyahime from Yamagata, or Koshihikari from Nagano. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can get the rare Kamiakari variety, which the owner Tomohiro Deguchi grows himself. This batch is being sold for the first time overseas, and it’s so rare that many people in Japan haven’t even tried it. But I did.
Kamiakari — a mutant grain of Koshihikari — is a little firmer than regular white rice, but still has a mochi-like texture. It has a distinct, almost popcorn-like aroma and a slightly nutty flavor. The grain was found near Shizuoka in 1998 and Deguchi has been growing it in Nagano in hopes of bringing more of it to market.
Kamiakari Dream representative Kiyoaki Nagasaka with his special “hagama,” or “wing-pot,” which is ideal for cooking rice. He said his mission is to travel the world with his pot, spreading the gospel of rice. He’s pictured here with Rice Factory manager Sayuri Ushijima.
My purchase of gourmet shoyu and one pound of Kamiakari rice. Its taste and texture make it ideal to eat with fattier foods, like curry, beef, cheese, or other gravies.
The Kamiakari was something like $10 for this one-pound bag, but the other varieties (below) can be purchased for a little less — maybe $3 to $8 per pound. If you think that’s too expensive for Hawaii tastes, think again: Local eaters, even to their surprise, are their largest customer base.
Choose your rice, quantity, and how finely you want it milled. You can watch them through a little window to the milling room.
You can also get recommendations on what foods go best with which rice. They’ll even give you tips on how to cook it.
Ushijima with the various gourmet shoyu, ponzu, mirin and other flavor enhancers that you can’t find at any other store.
You can also get gourmet miso, including this batch that is exposed to Vivaldi’s music to elevate its flavor. Now that’s cultured!
Gourmet ume, katsu sauce, and other items to add to your rice.
If you want to learn more about The Rice Factory, you can also see it on Doko Ga TV:
The Rice Factory
955 Kawaiahao St.
808-800-1520
Open Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
