Sweet rice, also called glutinous rice or sticky rice, is a short-grain rice that turns sticky and translucent when cooked, because its starch is almost entirely amylopectin rather than amylose. It is a staple across East and Southeast Asia, used to make sushi, mochi, rice cakes, and dumplings, where its stickiness helps bind fillings and gives a chewy texture. It's also fermented into products like Japanese mirin and Korean makgeolli, and sweetened with sugar or coconut milk for desserts such as rice pudding and sticky rice cakes. Despite the name, sweet rice has only a mild, faintly sweet flavor on its own, and despite being called 'glutinous,' it contains no gluten. Look for rice labeled glutinous or sticky when buying it.