Glutinous rice (
Oryza sativa var. glutinosa; also called
sticky rice,
sweet rice or
waxy rice) is a type of
rice grown mainly in
Southeast and
East Asia, which has opaque grains, very low
amylose content, and is especially sticky when cooked. It is called glutinous (< Latin
glutinosus) in the sense of being glue-like or sticky, and not in the sense of containing
gluten. While often called "sticky rice", it differs from non-glutinous strains of
japonica rice which also become sticky to some degree when cooked. There are numerous cultivars of glutinous rice, which include japonica, indica, and tropical japonica strains.