December 7, 2009
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Rice Bowl Entry
Most of you know that I like food. I have an emotional connection to food that dates back to my childhood days. My mom's kitchen was a favorite place for me to explore. My first memories of "cooking" was helping her cook rice. She only let me do this after we got a rice cooker. I would slowly rinse the rice, taking care not to have the grains of rice spill into the sink when I drained the water. The next step was simply adding water. I just held the container while she controlled the water. With great care and seriousness, I would place it into the rice cooker and push the switch down. I marveled as the light came on.
The lid had a glass section and I would stare into it watching the rice cook. I couldn't really see anything except the bubbles and steam rising up. It took every ounce of discipline in my little body not to lift the lid while the rice was cooking. When the switch finally popped up, my mom would tell me to just let it alone for a bit longer. Finally, I was able to lift the lid, watch the cloud of steam float away and reveled at the sight of perfectly cooked grains of white rice. To me, it was just like magic.
The smell and texture of just plain rice can be so subtly intoxicating. I love rice. I even have rice with fried rice. Dinner with rice noodles? You'll find a bowl of rice by my side.
Even today, the act of washing and cooking rice is comforting. It's something I have done so many times now. Each time, it just brings me back to simpler times and innocent times.
Comments (26)
Cooking rice is kinda cool. If I don't have at least one bowl of rice each day I'll feel weird.
There are different kinds of rice grains, I wonder which one you like the best? I prefer the lighter ones (Thai rice) for summer days and 'heavier' starchier ones (from Japan) for winter season.
I didn't know you were supposed to wash rice until I'd been eating it nearly daily for two years.
Ricefail.
I'm not a big rice person... maybe been in Canada for too long, haha. I remember when I first made rice, it was actually in home economics class in school, grade 11. We did it on the stovetop and had to add salt and butter to it and no washing of the grains. That was strange for me because I don't think my parents did that at home. It's interesting how different cultures cook rice.
Coming from south India, rice is a staple food for me. When I am home, visiting my folks- we eat rice everyday at least once!
I used to make rice too for my family! And I was so proud of it too haha.
Rice has a lovely smell when cooked. My first cooking job was also rice, too. Like you, mum showed me how to rinse the rice with water and how the water should then be filled so that it was 1 or was it 2 thumb lengths above the rice (I rarely cook rice now, mum still does it). Your posts make me appreciate my parents, esp mum, more.
I didn't know you ate rice with everything, I thought it was just my weird parents when they had rice with their pizza or KFC
Rice is comfort food. It has been that in my family since I can remember. By the way, I am not Asian
So don't stereotype!
i love rice too; i eat it with all kinds of things that it doesn't normally go with (rice with chicken pot pie, for example). my parents still do not use a rice cooker to cook rice; i grew up learning how to cook rice in a pot on the stove, and my parents insist on doing it this way. they got a rice cooker for their wedding present and it sat in the back of the cupboard until i finally dragged it out when i went off to college. i think it's great since i don't have to watch the rice while it cooks, but knowing how to cook rice without it has come in handy many times!
While my childhood food memories aren't about steaming rice, I have a lot of connections to helping my mother prepare food when I was young, too. I wonder sometimes if most foodies are foodies because of some connection with childhood memories?
I remember the magic of cooking rice too!
...thought I have got to ask...what did you guys use to cook rice before the rice cooker came along?
@christao408 - I don't know Chris. As a child, or even as a teenager, I never went into the kitchen or cook anything. Only after coming here, necessity made me a foodie I think.
Matt that is a beautiful memory to share with us. My son did that with me and my grand children love to wash the rice and "cook" it, just as you did.
Do you just keep rinsing it until the water is clear? I'm never sure how much to wash it.
It was nice to read another "mom" entry.
Your rice washing experience reminds me of the movie, In The Mood For Love, when the old lady is marvelling that Mrs Chan had. 
@Roadlesstaken - I don't eat rice every day now but for the longest time, I would go crazy if I didn't have rice.
@CurryPuffy - I've always preferred the lighter ones. I like to feel the individual grains of rice roll around my mouth.
@secade - I think it depends on the type of rice. I've heard the ones you get from a box doesn't need to be washed.
@mmmagination - you've been white washed? I've never taken home ec classes before.
@Dezinerdreams - ah yes, sometimes we have for breakfast (congee, lunch and dinner). I can't get enough of it.
@yang1815 - really? hee hee...
@stepaside_loser - gosh, several people have said it was also their first job too. We didn't have a lot of pizza growing up. But we did have rice with KFC!
@Fatcat723 - cool! You do have an Asian soul.
@kunhuo42 - you know what? I've never cooked rice without the rice cooker.
@christao408 - I think you're on to something.
@Wangium - my mom used a normal pot (not aluminum).
@ZSA_MD - glad you liked it. I think keeping the kids busy in the kitchen also means they aren't getting into trouble somewhere else.
@CareyGLY - I just rinse it twice. (I hope you're not talking about those Uncle Ben's rice). When I was a kid, there would be other gunk with the rice (usually husk). It's pretty clean nowadays.
@brooklyn2028 - hmm... interesting. I don't think I've watched that film yet. I should check it out.
Uncle Ben's!!!????
I'm white, but I'm not THAT white.
I'm a proper rice queen. I buy my rice in bulk at Ranch 99.
@CareyGLY - oh Carey.. AHHAHAHA, you had me in stitches.
if i have to choose ONE thing and one thing only to eat for the rest of my life, it would be the humble perfectly cooked steamed rice. accompanied with a pair of wooden chopsticks that is. nothing says home and warm hugs & kisses more than a bowl of rice.
I have rice with fried rice too! and noodles
*drools* Now I'm craving rice. I just ate the last bit in the cooker! D:
I feel that way whenever I make one of my mom's (who is still around) and my grandma's (who is not) recipes. It makes me feel close to them. I love that feeling because I remember making the recipes together with them when I was younger.
@rudyhou - yeah! I'll drink to that (or should I say, I'll eat a bowl of rice with you).
@CITYG1RL - I think some people will think we're a bit strange but I certainly don't.
@naguyin - hahaha... it's the power of suggestion.
@TheCheshireGrins - yeah, that bond is always there. Sometimes it's the smell or taste of certain foods or the sound in a kitchen that can spark memories.
i know how to cook rice even without using the rice cooker
btw, i realized i can't live without rice.
you should have posted pics with you in it. heheh. come on, it's christmas, you could at least let me take a peak
you're always welcome at my table, matt.
We never ate rice growing up because my father wasn't interested in trying it.
But, since I've been on my own,, I could certainly eat it every day.
Well, I know what I'm having for dinner now.
*~matthew~*
@Renatojr3 - I've never cooked rice in a pot before, only with a rice cooker. I'm sure I'll burn it. As for pics, I'm more comfortable behind a camera than in front of it. hee hee...
@rudyhou - thank you.
@bleuzeus - hahaha - I hope you enjoyed your dinner.
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