【Reading】もみ

【English Name】Unhulled Rice

Momi (rough rice) is an agricultural term referring to the seed in the state still attached to the rice ear, and botanically it is classified as a spikelet (shousui). It also has the alternative name "momigome," and those intended for sowing are often distinguished by calling them "tanemomi" (seed rice). There is also a usage in which only the outer husk portion is expressed as momi.

Observing the cross-section of the momi, one finds that two thin tissues exist sandwiching the brown rice. The inner tissue closer to the ear axis is the part called the lemma's inner glume (naiei), and the outer protruding tissue corresponds to the part called the outer glume (gaiei). The entire structure combining these two glumes and the sterile glume (goei) is collectively called the floret (eika), connecting to the ear via a short spikelet axis.

When the rice plant reaches its maturation period, a special cell layer called an abscission layer forms near the base of the sterile glume, providing a mechanism by which the grain easily falls naturally from the ear. However, the japonica varieties mainly common in Japan have the varietal characteristic that this abscission layer is difficult to form, so mechanical separation work using a threshing machine or the like is indispensable at harvest.

In sushi, it is said that the quality of the shari (vinegared rice) greatly determines the quality of the nigiri. The rice used for that shari, too, when traced back to its origin, starts from momi. When the husk—the outer skin—is removed from the harvested momi, brown rice is obtained, which then changes into white rice through the processing step of milling, and finally passes into the hands of the sushi chef.