Pearl Rice

• Pearl rice is also sometimes referred to as sushi rice or Japanese rice. This short-grained rice is quite sticky once it has been cooked and is very soft. Its pliable and glutinous texture makes it ideal for much Asian cuisine such as Korean or Japanese. It has a slightly translucent sheen to it once cooked. It is also used to make glutinous rice flour or rice starch because of its sticky and malleable properties. It can also be used as a thickener when ground up.
  
  

Spanish Rice

• Spanish rice is the type of rice most preferred for making paella, which is traditionally a Valencian rice dish. Spanish rice is less glutinous than pearl rice, and can absorb a lot of water or liquid while still remaining toothsome and retaining its shape. Spanish rice is generally milled so that it does not have its husk and is white in color. Spanish rice is also very good at absorbing additional flavors, as it does not have a very distinctive taste on its own.
  
  

Arborio Rice

• Arborio rice is the rice that is traditionally used for making risotto. This Italian short-grain rice can absorb and retain even more liquid than Spanish rice, and it does not become gummy or lose its shape over a long cooking period. Arborio rice can be purchased at either an ethnic grocer or in a specialty foods store. It can come milled or unmilled, meaning either white or brown. Traditionally, white arborio rice has been preferred.
  
  

Brown Rice

• Short-grain brown rice is short grain rice that has not been milled and still has its husk. It takes longer to cook than white rice does, and it has a distinctive nutty flavor that is sometimes not well suited to certain recipes. However, it is prized because of its higher nutritional content. Brown rice is still glutinous, but it becomes less gummy than any of the white rices once it has been cooked. It is often found in health food stores, and is used in Japanese and Korean cuisines as a substitute for white rice.