Rice – How to make white risotto

It's the starch that gives risotto its creamy texture. If you try to do it with regular rice with low starch there is no way you have that texture. Stirring is to prevent rice from sticking and it is not necessary (at least not constantly).

In the Do The Rice Thing episode of Good Eats, Alton Brown says:

I have to tell you, I've tinkered with risotto quite a bit, and I really don't think that that whole constant stirring thing is necessary.

Okay, here's what movement does in the pot. Now, as the kernels rub together in the hot liquid, they literally scrub off some of their starch, okay? Now hot liquid is added slowly because if it were cold, the starch wouldn't come off. And if too much gets added at once, the rice kernels would never make contact.

Now, I find that occasional stirring keeps the heat and moisture evenly distributed, but gentle pan shaking creates a better gravy.

I started not to stir (I mean constantly) the risotto after I watched that and it turns out great. However, slow addition of the liquid is still necessary.

I've done risotto with other short grain rices (which includes sushi rice), with good results. I've even used medium grain rice in a pinch, and you'll have to stir more, but it'll come out.

I'd assume the same would be true in reverse -- that most short grain rices (incl. arborio) would make a decent sushi ... unless it's short grained brown rice, that'd likely less you up.

Basically, there's three main varieties of rice: short, medium and long (not including 'wild rice' or how it's treated (white vs. brown vs. parboiled). So long as you stay within one group, you're usually fine, so long as you don't change the treatment or technique used to cook it.