What to use instead of short-grain rice
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Grains that cling so the rice can be shaped or rolled
Short-grain japonica is high in amylopectin, the branched starch that stays sticky after cooling, which is why a rice ball holds together in your hand.
Calrose or other medium-grain riceRan out
1:1 by volume, 1 1/4 cups water per cup, rinsed 3 times
Clings almost as well. Slightly looser grain, so onigiri need a firmer squeeze and gimbap needs to be rolled tighter.
Arborio or carnaroli, rinsed hardRan out
1:1 by volume, 1 1/3 cups water per cup
Sticks fine and keeps a chalky core unless you give it 5 extra min. The grain is fatter and shows up as visible white lumps.
Sweet or glutinous rice cut into long-grainRan out
1 part glutinous to 3 parts long-grain white, soaked 2 h, cooked together
Enough cling to shape, and heavier and denser in the mouth. It goes hard in the fridge faster than japonica.
What doesn't work: Basmati or jasmine. Long grains carry far more amylose, which sets firm and separate as it cools, so an onigiri crumbles the moment you pick it up and a gimbap roll unwinds on the board.
Rice that breaks down into a savoury porridge
Surface starch dissolves into the broth over a long simmer and thickens it, while the grain swells and collapses.
Glutinous or sweet riceRan out
1:1 by volume, 8 to 9 cups stock per cup of rice, 45 min stirring often
Thickens hardest and fastest, which is the traditional arroz caldo texture. It keeps thickening as it sits, so hold back a cup of stock.
ArborioRan out
1:1 by volume, 7 cups stock per cup, 30 min
Creamy with the grains still distinct. More like a loose risotto than a congee.
Broken rice or jasmine, blitzed brieflyRan out
1 cup rice pulsed 3 times in a blender, 8 cups stock, 40 min
Cracking the grains gets long-grain rice to break down. Slightly gritty at first, smooth by the end.
What doesn't work: Parboiled or converted rice. It has been steamed in the husk so the starch is set inside the grain and cannot leach out. An hour later you have separate firm grains sitting in thin broth, and stirring only bruises them.
Rice packed into a vegetable that steams inside it
It absorbs the surrounding juice and swells to fill the cavity without going to mush, so the stuffing sets as one mass.
Medium-grain riceRan out
1:1 by volume, rinsed, packed in raw at three quarters full
Behaves almost identically. Slightly looser stuffing when you cut into it.
Coarse bulgurRan out
1:1 by volume, packed in raw
Absorbs faster and stays separate, so the filling is crumbly rather than cohesive. Nuttier and it will not go gluey if overcooked.
Long-grain white riceRan out
1:1 by volume, plus 2 tbsp extra liquid in the pot
Drier and looser. The stuffing spills when you cut a dolma open instead of holding as a plug.
What doesn't work: Fully cooked leftover rice packed into the vegetables. It has nothing left to absorb, so the juices stay in the pot, the filling turns to paste on the second cook, and the vegetable collapses around it.