Rice

Hello.

I would like to talk about Rice which is essential for Asian food. My favorite food is freshly cooked rice. Japanese rice is moist, sticky, chewy and sweet. Freshly cooked rice increases my appetite. I always told my mum that I could eat rice with rice. Nothing else needed just rice. If I were to choose the last meal I could ever eat it would be rice

I know that people are not interested in rice as me. My husband told me that he had never really appreciated rice before he met me. I understand rice is not a main dish in most western countries and generally not too important. Similar to the likes of mashed potatoes or chips.

In Japan, we are recommended to have meals that include one staple food, one soup, one main food and two small side dishes in a day. It is called 一汁三菜(Ichi zyuu san sai) and it has high nutritional value. Ichi zyuu san sai is a traditional Japanese style meal so rice is necessary for it.

There are a lot of rice brands in Japan and new rice brands are developed every year due to climate change and people's preferences have been changed. These brand rice have different taste and texture. I have never tried a lot of different rice brands but some people cook brand rice depend on dishes.

Rice has not only carbohydrate but also it has vitamins, minerals and protein. Rice is absorbed and digested slowly so that it keeps you feeling full for a long time. I usually cook medium grain rice for my dishes but I sometimes eat brown rice for health and to prevent constipation.

Brown rice is a whole grain therefore it has low GI and has rich fiber, minerals and vitamins. Compared to grain rice, brown rice has 6 times of fiber, 2 -12 times of vitamin, 1.5-4 times of minerals. However, the taste of brown rice is not as tasty as grain rice, a little bit dry and not as sweet. But I could say that the inside of brown rice is more sticky and it is fulling. Even if you do not like brown rice, you will get used to the taste and you will not want to eat grain rice one day.

We write the word 米 (rice) in Japanese which looks like the japanese number 八十八 (88). It is said that there are 88 processes to make rice. When I was a primary school student, we had a class which grew mochi rice and cooked mochi at a school festival. I entered the rice field without shoes and planted some rice plants by hand in spring. In autumn, we reap rice with a sickle. It was a great experience for kids to learn about agriculture and how much we must work to produce the food we eat every day. Also, I remember when I was a little and it was lunch time, I left some rice in my bowl and my friend told me that there are seven gods in each rice so I shouldn't waste even one piece of rice. It i not only rice but also we should appreciate all life and all the people who are related to produce food. Therefore, we say “ Itadakimasu” before having meals and “Gochisousamadeshita” after finishing a meal. This means that we appreciate all life and people related to food. Also, we should not waste food, for even one piece of rice matters and should be appreciated.

Anyway, I would love to share how to cook nice steam rice next time.

See you soon.