While sushi rice is sticky, glutinous rice is far stickier. I believe glutinous rice is available in Asian stores in the U.S. because I was able to buy it there in the Fremont area in California 3 years ago. While taste for taste it's like ordinary rice, the sticky texture of glutinous rice is really what one is going for. Whether whole or ground up into powder, Asians use it in many applications, for example:
for savory meals:
- machang (seasoned sticky rice mixed with chicken, pork, and mushrooms wrapped in fragrant leaves shaped into pyramid cones then steamed)
- kiampong (chinese version of biryani)
- whole chicken stuffed with chinese paella
for dessert:
- Filipino biko or sweet rice cakes topped with rich dark coconut paste
- Filipino sapin-sapin or colorful multi-layered sweet cake topped with toasted cocunut
- Thai coconut sticky rice usually served with mango
- Chinese buchi (toasted sesame seed puffs)
Strange that the short-grain sushi rice we buy here is referred to as Calrose or California rice or Japanese rice.
I would normally not think to substitute glutinous rice with sushi rice as the latter won't be sticky enough. Plus sushi rice is imported and much more expensive than the ubiquitous glutinous rice (at least where I live now).
