How can you determine the freshest and best quality of rice when shopping at your local market? We can do this by looking at the package of rice for clues.
When buying packaged rice and grains, the first thing to do is to read the package of rice or grain.
Do you see any stickers? One that is most often noticed stickers on the rice bags reads “New Crop”.
So, what does New Crop mean? New crop means that that bag of rice contains new rice.
There is old rice and new rice.
- New rice is called 햅쌀 – haepsal in Korean.
- Old rice is called 묵은쌀 – mookunsal in Korean.
New Rice is rice that is less than a year old or rice that was harvested in the same year that it was sold. This rice is ideal to purchase because it has the most nutrients, is fresh, and is more than likely in good condition.
Now, what if you do not see this sticker?
That could mean that the rice is old rice. “Old Rice” is not inedible or bad in any way. With each new harvest of rice, the rice that was already harvested before is now considered “old.” Any rice that was harvested a year+ ago is considered old.
Once rice is harvested and processed, it begins to oxidize, lose flavor, and the nutrients begin to disappear.
That is why New Rice is ideal, but “Old rice” is a perfectly fine option for those who do not have access to fresh rice. If you can’t find the new crop sticker it is okay to purchase any other bag of rice. It is just ideal to purchase new crop rice when available.
