Yanmar has succeeded in the mass production of Rice gelée, a new ingredient made from rice and water. It is a new ingredient possessing a wide range of possibilities that contains no additives and is gluten-free. In October 2018, Rice gelée was exhibited for the first time at the world’s largest food trade fair “SIAL Paris 2018” where it received a lot of interest. Here, we will introduce you to some fascinating detail about this incredible new ingredient: Rice gelée.

Rice Gelée is an Additive-free, Gluten-Free Ingredient

The raw ingredients for making Rice gelée are rice and water.
A completely new ingredient with high water retentivity and oil retentivity, Rice gelée is attracting widespread interest and winning fans all over the world.

One potential use for Rice gelée is in bread. When bread is made with rice flour, it acquires a chewy texture and natural sweetness. However, as the bread becomes harder over time, it loses this favorable texture. Fortunately, by adding Rice gelée to rice flour, it is now possible to make rice flour bread that keeps its crunchy crust moist and chewy texture, longer than ever.
Even udon noodles, ramen noodles and pasta retain the same texture as noodles made from wheat flour while remaining gluten-free (without wheat protein), when made with Rice gelée.

Nowadays, in many countries, the “gluten-free” lifestyle is gaining in popularity, with many high-profile adherents among athletes and celebrities. Interest in rice is also growing globally and, in response to these demands, in October 2018,Yanmar decided to introduce Rice gelée at “SIAL Paris 2018”, the world’s largest Food Trade Fair. In Rice gelée, the rice can act as an adhesive, for gelation and as a stabilizer. By substituting it as an ingredient in various recipes, allergens such as wheat, milk and egg can be avoided. As a new, safe ingredient, it finds limitless possibilities for use with peace of mind.

Interview with Chef Ryuji Teshima Who a Rice Gelée Menu

Realizing the potential of Rice gelée, Chef Ryuji Teshima, who has a one-Michelin star restaurant in Paris, created a menu based around Rice gelée and hosted a tasting party as a pre-event for “SIAL Paris 2018”. We asked Teshima-san what drew him to the ingredient and what he thought of its future possibilities.

Chef Ryuji Teshima Restaurant PAGES

Born in Kumamoto Prefecture in 1976. Teshima-san began studying French cooking at a restaurant in Kumamoto prefecture when he was 19 years old. At the age of 26, he moved to France where he continued to hone his skills by working at “Restaurant Les Berceaux”, a local starred restaurant, then at “Restaurant Lucas Carton”, a three-star restaurant in Paris.
In 2014, he opened “Restaurant PAGES” near the Arc de Triomphe in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. In 2015, he received the “Grand Chef de Demain (Future Master)” award from “Gault&Millau”, a French restaurant guide.
In 2016, one and a half years after its opening, the restaurant was awarded one Michelin star in the Michelin Guide. In 2018, he started supervising the in-flight menu for JAL’s First and Business Class passengers traveling between Paris and Haneda.

I Believe that Rice Gelée is a Superb Ingredient

After trying Rice gelée, I felt that it is indeed an excellent ingredient and that in fact, it could be used in ways that had never been done before. After hearing Yanmar’s passion for Rice gelée, I wanted to help in spreading this passion and so cooperated with Yanmar in developing this menu. The first advantage of Rice gelée is its moisture retention. In French, this is called “Lier” and it confers the ability to stick things together. It has no real bad points and the most attractive thing is that it is gluten-free. At present, the number of people using gluten-free is indeed rising and its demand is also felt in the restaurant.

Rice Gelée’s Used are Unlimited!

The menu that I prepared this time consists of 4 dishes which were able to convey the advantages of Rice gelée.
One of these dishes is the Buckwheat Galette. In France, this is a popular dish. I usually use flour, but this time, I used buckwheat flour and Rice gelée to make this dish gluten-free.
For curry, I prepared the dish in an Asian style, rather than as French cuisine. As this is also gluten-free, I prepared the dish together with gluten-free bread which has a unique chewy texture.
For the hamburger buns, we prepared three types: buns baked 7 days before, 3 days before and on the day. This showed that there was very little change in the consistency of the bread over that period.
Next was a cake made from bread softly grilled with sukiyaki inside. I hope that people can understand how good Japanese dishes and French dishes are.

As the word “Rice gelée” contains “rice”, people will have strong reference to “rice”, but I believe that it is not just “rice”. It is “something special”. Indeed, the possibilities of Rice gelée are infinite.

Demonstration by Chef Ryuji Teshima at the “SIAL Paris 2018” pre-event.

Rice Gelée Can Be Easily Added into Various Dishes

Rice gelée is very simple to use.
Put Rice gelée into a heat-resistant container and wrap it. Then heat using a microwave oven and mix thoroughly until it becomes smooth. When it becomes gelée-like, it is finished!
When making hamburger, just add onion, minced meat and seasoning into this Rice gelée. A soft and juicy hamburger can be made without using eggs, milk or flour.
When making the white sauce for cream stew, a delicious stew dish can be cooked even for those who are allergic to wheat or milk by using soy milk and salad oil together with Rice gelée. Also, if you use milk, skim powdered milk, granulated sugar together with Rice gelée, you can make low-calorie lacto ice-cream.

Besides all this, Rice gelée is an ingredient which can be easily incorporated into various dishes from specialized dishes such as gratin and muffins, to fancy desserts, as a substitute for flour, milk and eggs.