America would have a severe sushi shortage without it.

A building block for meals worldwide, it's Sacramento's most important crop, yet few area residents know much about it or even realize it has a season.

California rice forms a strong link from field to table. For almost a century, farmers have grown short- and medium-grain varieties unique to the Sacramento Valley. The 2011 harvest – nearly 5 billion pounds is expected – has just begun.

Chef Taro Arai eagerly awaits the new crop. His Mikuni restaurants use more than 2,500 pounds a day of rice from the region; the fresher, the better.

"I love it," Arai said. "I can't imagine not being where rice is grown. (Our restaurants) wouldn't be able to do what we do if we weren't here in the Sacramento Valley. The rice that grows here is so much better for sushi."

Virtually every piece of sushi made in America uses California rice. Its starchy grains offer just the right consistency.

"It holds together better," Arai explained. "You need it starchy. Long- grain rice, you can never make a roll with it. California grows a variety that's exactly what we want."

More than 95 percent of California's rice crop grows within 100 miles of Sacramento. Rice covers more than 580,000 acres.

Most of this crop is marketed as Calrose, the name of the medium-grain variety that formed the foundation for the state's $1.8 billion rice industry. The bulk of the crop will be exported to Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the Middle East.

While fresh or "new crop" rice represents a premium product in Japan, American consumers are just learning about its subtle differences in texture and taste.

"It's just totally different," Arai said. "It's so shiny. It cooks differently; it needs a little less water because it contains more moisture. It has its own taste. I just can't wait for it every year."

Marysville rice farmer Charley Mathews can't wait, either, although nature delayed this fall's harvest.

As with many California crops in 2011, rice harvest started about three weeks late, delayed by a cool summer. Recent storms put another crimp in the harvest schedule: Heavy machinery can't navigate muddy fields.

"It takes a lot more effort," Mathews said of harvesting between rainstorms. "We have to wait for the fields to dry out again. Typically, our harvest runs September-October, occasionally into early November. Last year, we had the same problems and a lot of rice was harvested in December. One guy even harvested in March."

Moisture – in the grain, not the ground – determines when to harvest. For maximum quality, farmers wait until the moisture content falls to 24 percent. Higher, the rice may spoil; lower, the grains start to fall apart.

"The more moisture, the more perishable the grain," Mathews explained. "You've got to get it to the dryer within 24 hours."

At the rice dryer, the grains are stabilized. Then, hulls are removed and the naturally brown grains are polished to a pearly white.

Mathews, a fifth-generation rice farmer, is among 2,500 family farmers who grow the bulk of Sacramento Valley rice.

California rice ranks among the most automated crops. In late spring, it's planted by airplane. In fall, modern harvesters efficiently mow the fields.

At $400,000 apiece, the harvesters are bigger than double-wide mobile homes and twice as tall.

"When I was a kid, we harvested 5 acres a day," Mathews said. "Now, we can do 6 or 7 acres an hour. (The machinery) is a big capital investment for something you only use 30 to 40 days a year, but rice requires it."

It's a labor saver, too.

"Me and two other people can do all the planting and harvest for my 700 acres," Mathews said. "In California, it takes 15 hours of labor to produce the same amount of rice as 700 hours of labor in Thailand."

North of Marysville, rice farmer Keith Davis enjoys an air-conditioned cab atop a massive harvester as it chomps through his fields.

"I sit up here all day long, day after day during harvest," Davis said. "It becomes pretty monotonous."

GPS and laser sights guide the 25-foot-wide head as it gobbles up rice plants, rarely missing a stalk. Onboard computers tabulate how much rice came from which parts of the field and keep a running tally.

"I can tell immediately where the rice grew the best and where we need to make adjustments," Davis explained.

While rolling, the harvester transfers its rice to a high-wheeled truck so it never has to stop.

"When I first started harvesting (in 1969), all I had for protection was an umbrella," Davis said. "The heat and the dust were just the same."

Said Mathews, "The old-timers used to cover themselves with cornstarch because the rice was so itchy."

The emotional rewards of rice farming are huge.

"You get to see the fruit of your labor," Davis said of harvest time. "You start out with 150 pounds of seed and end up, hopefully, with 8,000 to 9,000 pounds of rice per acre. It's amazing."

What amazes restaurateur Arai is all the things he can do with that fresh rice.

"I'm inventing right now," he said as he created Volcano Rice – flavored sushi rice mounded like a mountain. "I think I'm having too much fun."

Arai topped his "volcano" with a "cauldron" made from a lemon half, then drizzled it with high-proof rum. With a kitchen torch, he set it afire for dramatic effect.

Next came Dreamy Scallops. Arai used two of his special Mikuni house sauces – American Dream and Magic – for this sushi featuring seared scallops and crab. A heart-shaped strawberry slice tops each piece.

With stripes of orange and black fish eggs, a tuna sushi roll became a San Francisco Giants roll.

"That's what I like about my job; every day I can do what I want, make something different," Arai said. "I tried a low-carb diet once, but I couldn't do it. I've got to have this rice."

RICE ASIDES

Fresh Calrose rice is available at area Asian grocery stores, such as Oto's Marketplace, 4990 Freeport Blvd., Sacramento.

• Nutrition: One cup of cooked Calrose rice has about 190 calories, almost all from carbohydrates. Rice, which is about 7 percent protein, is a good source of folate, niacin and thiamin.

• Storage: In a cool, dry place, rice maintains its quality for two years.

• Brown vs. white: All rice starts as brown rice, which is considered a whole grain. Milling and polishing turns the grains white. Brown rice has a few more calories (220 per cup, cooked), more fiber and more Vitamin B6.

• Perfect rice: Use 1 cup water to 1 cup fresh Calrose rice; 1 1/4 cups water to 1 cup older rice. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, bring water and rice to boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Let simmer without stirring for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes. Then, fluff with fork. Calrose rice is naturally sticky and tends to cling together.

• Look for the Calrose label: California ranks as America's No. 2 rice producer, growing about 20 percent of the nation's crop and virtually all of its short or medium-grain varieties. Most California rice is marketed under the name "Calrose," a variety that revolutionized the state's industry in the late 1940s.

At almost 50 percent, Arkansas leads the country in rice production, but grows only long-grain varieties. Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas (in that order) are the other major rice states.

The average American eats about 25 pounds of rice a year, twice as much as 10 years ago. By contrast, Japanese consumers average 135 pounds per year.

• Why here?: So much rice production encircles Sacramento because of hardpan clay soil, mild winters and hot summers. The clay keeps irrigation water from seeping quickly into the soil.

"When we turn the water off, it takes 50 days for the fields to dry out enough for us to get in there with a harvester," said farmer Keith Davis.

Leveled with the aid of laser sights, the fields are irrigated May through August with water 5 inches deep. Rice uses about the same amount of water as alfalfa or turf grass.

Rice is a highly efficient grass. One seed can produce 1,000 grains.

• Burn phase-out: Rice harvest produces about 4 tons per acre of biomass – mostly leftover stalks. Traditionally, that debris was burned. Since 1991, California rice farmers have gradually stopped burning the fields. Instead, the biomass is allowed to compost in place.

"We've found that it's actually better for our soil," said farmer Charley Mathews. "Our yields have gone up."

• Wildlife likes it, too: About 230 species make their homes in Sacramento Valley rice fields. After harvest, an estimated 10 million ducks and geese feast on leftovers in the fields. Harvesters leave 300 to 400 pounds of rice per acre for the birds, which get nearly 60 percent of their winter food from the rice fields.

• Resources: For more tips and recipes, click on www.calrice.org, the website of the California Rice Commission.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Debbie Arrington, (916) 321-1075.

• Read more articles by Debbie Arrington