Glutinous Rice: Does That Have Gluten?

It makes sense that someone with Celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity might see glutinous rice on a menu and wonder whether this has something to do with gluten. But you don't need to worry. Glutinous rice is just a kind of rice, and like all rice, it does not contain any gluten. The word glutinous refers to the rice being sticky and gummy. It is also sometimes called waxy rice, sticky rice, or since it has a natural sweetness, sweet rice. This is the kind of rice used in the classic Thai dessert Sticky Rice with Mangoes and, if you've never tried it, you should. The two together are a perfect combo.

The word glutinous is an unfortunate word since, most of the time, it doesn't have anything to do with gluten, even though gluten can be said to be glutinous. Really, it is just an adjective that means something has the quality of glue. In fact, if you need to cook gluten free, you will probably seek out some glutinous substitutes, to bind things together!

The stickiness in glutinous rice comes from starch. There are two kinds of starch in cereal grains: amylose and amylopectin. All grains have a mixture of both, but some are higher in one than the other. Sticky rice is high in amylopectin, and this is what contributes the stickiness.

Thai dish Sticky Rice and Mango

Sticky Rice and Mango
Image by Thai Jasmine via flickr

Amylose starch is composed of long, single chains of glucose. This kind of starch easily bonds with water and with each other, so that they make a sort of gel that is great for thickening sauces, etc. The amylopectin molecules are not long chains, but instead have many branches. They don't bond with water so easily, or with each other, so they remain separate and provide the sticky consistency. The more amylopectin, the more stickiness. Keep in mind that all rice has amylopectin, so all rice can have some degree of stickiness, even if it's only a little. The content is somewhere between 17 to 28 percent in all rice varieties.

Most all of the very sticky rices are short grains. In most countries, sticky rice is used for desserts and the non-sticky rice varieties are used for staple food. But people some places eat sticky rice all the time, as in Loas, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Rice wine and such is usually brewed from sticky rice. Other names for glutinous rice, besides those above, are boton rice, biroin chal, mochi rice, pearl rice and pulut.

This information is provided for those who have been medically confirmed to have a need for a gluten-free diet and in no way should be taken to mean that Ground Up Strength endorses the general "gluten free living" trend.


This page created 23 Feb 2013 22:23
Last updated 14 Mar 2013 18:36
