Buying Rice in Singapore: Why One Bag Is Hard to Choose 🍚

“Go to the shop and buy some rice.”

“Easy. Which rice?”

“Just get a good one.”

Then I arrive at the supermarket and find what feels like a hundred thousand different kinds.

Rice occupies a remarkable amount of shelf space at my local FairPrice Finest. The bags can be enormous too. One in my photographs weighs 10 kg. Coming from one-kilogram bags, that feels less like buying an ingredient and more like making a long-term commitment.

I bought a rice cooker soon after moving to Singapore. I used it only a couple of times. The cooker was ready for my new life; I had apparently made fewer preparations.

Start with the name on the bag

A useful first step is to look past the brand. FairPrice’s rice listings distinguish jasmine rice, basmati and short-grain japonica, among many others. These are different starting points for a meal, not simply different prices for the same bag.

Rather than choosing the most impressive sack, it makes sense to start with the rice named in the recipe and follow that packet’s cooking instructions. The amount of water is not something I would guess from the size of the bag.

Even the rice has accessories

Another shelf surprise was a fibre product designed to be added while cooking rice. Its packaging made nutritional claims; I have not tested those claims. I had gone in to choose rice and discovered that it could come with an additional purchasing decision.

“Just get a good one” remains excellent advice from someone who is not standing in the rice aisle.