World's most expensive rice will soon be for sale in Singapore

Microwaving rice can sometimes lead to food poisoning. (iStock)

A Japanese rice blend called Kinmemai Premium — listed in last year’s "Guinness World Records" as the “most expensive rice” — will be available in Singapore starting November 1. The blend combines five rice varieties from various producers in prefectures including Gunma, Nagano and Niigata.

The Kinmemai Premium website offers both brown and white rice.

Of the white rice the website says, “[The rice] has the appearance, digestibility and quick-cooking time of white rice, but the similarities end there. Expect a buttery, nutty taste and moist, creamy texture; with a nutritional profile superior to conventional white rice.”

The website describes the brown rice as, “[bringing] more to the table than just the chestnut hue and nutritional values of brown rice. It’s also irresistibly fluffy, easier to digest and quicker cooking than conventional brown rice.”

The rinse-free rice (meaning that there is no need to wash the rice before cooking it) is milled with Toyo Rice’s patented rice technology and retails for $109 (US) per kilogram.

The rice is supposedly superior in flavor, sweetness and nutritional value to traditional rice, and The Straits Times reported that “the rice is also said to contain six times more lipopolysaccharides — endotoxins that act as natural boosters for the body's immune system.”