AGENT FOR COOKED RICE

It is to provide a quality improving agent for cooked rice which effectively imparts improving effect on loosening properties, anti-aging property, and/or water retentivity to cooked rice with as little influence as possible on the original texture and taste of the cooked rice, a method for producing cooked rice using the quality improving agent, and cooked rice improved in loosening properties, anti-aging property, and/or water retentivity using the method for producing cooked rice. In the process of rice cooking for preparing cooked rice, substituted modified starch whose viscosity has been adjusted to a viscosity range involving a viscosity of 15 mPa·s or higher at 30% by mass in an aqueous solution and a viscosity of 3000 mPa·s or lower at 10% by mass in an aqueous solution by the hydrolysis or molecular weight reduction of the substituted modified starch is added as the quality improving agent for cooked rice. As a result, improving effect on loosening properties, anti-aging property, and/or water retentivity is imparted to cooked rice, while cooked rice having the original texture and taste of cooked rice is produced. Examples of the degradation product of substituted modified starch include degradation products obtained using, as a base material, substituted modified starch(s) of hydroxypropyl starch, hydroxypropylated distarch phosphate, and starch sodium octenylsuccinate.