Kitchen Notes: Know Your Rice

After all, there are many different kinds of rice, and each one has its own character. Here is a very useful explanation. Note the photographs.

My favorite for everyday cooking is the fantastic jasmine rice from Thailand. It's the family favorite also.

There are also other kinds of rice that do not appear in the blog post. These are less common and include some crazy-looking kinds that come in different colors. I bought some red rice once in Chinatown because I was curious. (Verdict: it was good to try something new, but I wouldn't buy it again.)

Rice is fundamental to much of Asian culinary culture -- and culture in general. In Taiwanese, for instance, we have not one, but two words for "rice." One word means "uncooked rice," and the other means "cooked rice." Yes, rice is THAT important. The entire phrase for "eat" actually translates as "eat rice." And the delicious traditional breakfast includes rice porridge (make it with leftover rice from the day before; "waste not, want not").

Trivia: rice only grows in hot, wet conditions. Northern China is too cold for rice farming. Up there, people have eaten millet and wheat -- and wheat in the form of flour that's made into steamed buns (manto).

As for cooking: Don't listen to the blog post's instructions for cooking rice on the stove. Get a real rice cooker. It's much easier. You put in the rice and water, push the "on" button, and then walk away. While the rice is cooking, you can stir-fry your meat and vegetables; save time! In about 20-30 minutes, the rice is cooked, and a huge fragrant cloud of steam rolls out when you take off the lid. Aaaaaaaahhhh . . . Rice cookers come in a million varieties from the completely basic to the technologically super-advanced (by the Japanese, of course).

More trivia: wild rice is not actually rice. It's a related kind of grass. Still yummy, though. It's also the state grain of the state of Minnesota. (Who knew?)

FYI, this is not rice. This is a culinary desecration. I shall not even mention its name on my blog!