Monday, May 14, 2007
not my cup of rice
I think it was two years ago when I was asked to write an essay for a UNESCO-sponsored gig which had "Rice is Life" for its theme. Normally, I would have been more than happy to try my luck at changing the world and using whatever writing skill I had to spread a positive message, but at that time I just said no.
Gaaaah. What was I thinking???!!! Well, it's not like I was being such a "literary" primadonna, after all, I have previously agreed to write a piece on Statistics and Agriculture. It's just that I was too busy at that time, and to be honest,
I never liked rice.I know, I know. What a shame to be born and raised on this side of the planet and never really learning to appreciate rice, and for the most part- just learn how to cook it. My grandfather in
le province will surely rip my head off if he knows about this. You know how our folks are. They're always about being proud and appreciative of your roots and all - just because he's made a living out of rice.
Well, rice is life - this may be true for a whole LOT of people, but not for me because I don't know how to cook it. I know. This is so silly. I cook. I bake and I've actually done a bit of pastry lesson, but I've never managed to cook a single cup of decent-looking, edible rice.
Mutti says the way to learn is never through the rice cooker, because that's "
cheating". Well, whatever I've always had this irrational fear of rice cookers and microwave ovens anyway.
STEP ONE: Measure rice.Check.
STEP TWO: Wash the rice.Check. Now that's pretty simple, but why? And how many times do you wash the rice? One? Two? Three?
STEP THREE: Measure the water (and normally, you'll put it in the rice pot thing).Now here's the weird part. What the hell is the freakin ratio of rice to water? I've heard it's 1:1, Mutti says 1:1 1/2 and sometimes 1:2. What is this??!! Am I being punk'd???!! And everyone else says it all depends on the variety you're working with. How am I supposed to know all that??!!
STEP FOUR: Cook it.Now, how long??! In all my attempts, I've come to realize that just like babies, rice isn't a put-on-stove-and-walk-away kind of thing. (Not that you'd out a baby on a stove, but well...) It's just that I always, always, always forget to check on the rice or turn the heat down or turn the stove off and wander away until smoke comes out of the kitchen (perhaps due to a genetic mutation??).
So everything results into a unrecognizable mush which is 1 part charcoal and 1 part wet, slushy rice on top.
Gaaaah. Why can't we just have bread in this house???!!!!!
rice=more gym hours
xxmimose
Labels: rice
C h i n i k a n i M i m o s e n u n g b a n d a n g 10:05 PM
