If you’ve ever been to the rice section in the supermarket to “just buy some normal white rice”, you’ve probably encountered the stacks upon stacks of rice available. Even if you’re looking for just jasmine rice, there are a plethora of types and brands, all at different price points.
This guide will help you distinguish between the different types of jasmine rice and Thai Hom Mali rice, and choose the one that’s most appropriate for you.
What is Jasmine Rice?
Jasmine rice is one of the most popular varieties of rice in Singapore and Southeast Asia, known for its fluffy, delicate texture and fragrant aroma. It originates from Thailand, and although it’s now grown in other countries like Vietnam, the best jasmine rice is still regarded as those that come from its country of origin.
This rice is commonly used to make the plain bowls of white rice that accompany your meals at Chinese restaurants, and sometimes dishes like fried rice thanks to its drier texture.
“Jasmine Rice” vs “Thai Hom Mali Rice”
The term “jasmine rice” is sometimes mistaken as interchangeable for “Thai Hom Mali rice”, but they actually mean different things! Generally, products that are only vaguely labelled “jasmine rice” go through a lower level of quality control, whereas products that have the name “Thai Hom Mali rice” have passed more stringent requirements.
Jasmine Rice
Jasmine rice is the name of the variety and can be used by brands without any specific requirements. Although brands often use descriptors like “fragrant”, these words do not denote any quality checks and are just for marketing purposes. As such, anything simply labelled “jasmine rice” may be from other countries such as Vietnam, have lower quality grains or be mixed with other rice grains.
Thai Hom Mali Rice
On the other hand, products need to meet a certain set of criteria to be labelled Thai Hom Mali rice, similar to how wines like champagne can only be labelled as such if they meet the relevant requirements regarding origin, quality and processing. They must contain above 92% of Thai Hom Mali rice (anything labelled “Thai jasmine rice” only needs 60 to 80%) and meet high standards regarding kernel size, wholeness and quality.
Within the Thai Hom Mali rice category, there are also different grades available—the highest export quality is labelled AAA grade and contains 100% whole kernel Thai Hom Mali grains.
As such, Thai Hom Mali rice is considered the premium range of jasmine rice, and is often regarded to have a more aromatic fragrance and fluffy texture.
Which should I buy?
Thai Hom Mali rice might be of higher quality, but it comes at a price—it costs about two times as much! A 10kg bag of FairPrice Jasmine Fragrant Rice goes for only $14.30, but a 10kg bag of FairPrice Thai Hom Mali Superior Fragrant Rice costs $25.50. This price increases further when you look at preferred brands like Royal Umbrella and SongHe, which sell their 10kg bags at $32.80.
As such, you can decide if the quality difference is worth the increased price based on your personal budgeting and preference.
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