honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, February 20, 2005

CONTEMPORARY RICE STORY
Few Things in Life Are as Constant or Comforting

 •  An homage to rice
 •  Old-time talk story: Memories of Rice
 •  Poetry: Growing With Rice
 •  Contemporary, runner up: Mommy's Fried Rice
 •  Readers' thoughts: Poetry in the Grain

Susan Chun

Winner: Susan Y. Chun, 'Ewa Beach

Newlyweds: He — from a rice-cooker family.

She — from a rice-cooked-in-a-pot family.

Results: Rice was sometimes either undercooked or burned.

Married 5 years: Christmas present from mother-in-law — a rice cooker.

Important discovery: If you put leftover rice in the icebox, you can microwave it and it turns out OK. Sprinkle a little water if it looks too dry. Rice is no longer thrown away.

Six-month-old baby: First taste of real food — several grains of rice pushed into his mouth by his mother's fingers.

Age 5: He looks up from watching TV and eating arare as his grandmother goes from the kitchen to the front door with a pot. She opens the screen door and dumps the water on her roses. "What's that, Popo?" She answers, "Rice water." Translation: While washing rice, she doesn't let the rice water go down the drain.

Age 8: His father is preparing his "lunch" before he leaves for his night-shift job. He always uses a small aluminum pot to cook his rice in. "Do you want a snack?" He makes a rice ball, sprinkles it with salt, and wraps it in waxed paper. What a treat!

Age 10: He starts eating cone sushi and California Roll sushi. From his Japanese friends, he learns to sprinkle furikake on his rice. From his Korean friends, he learns to pick up a small ball of rice with the mini sheet of seasoned seaweed.

Age 12: His mother teaches him how to "cook rice." He lets gallons of water go down the drain, making sure the rice water is clear. It is fun using his pointer finger as a marker — only up to the first joint to measure the water in the rice-cooker pot. The rice tastes extra good that night.

"Is it true that if you let the rice soak in water for an hour or two before cooking it, the rice will taste better?"

Age 16: Before washing the dishes, he sees the rice-cooker pot on the counter. He takes out the spoon and puts the last bit of rice in his mouth —no use wasting it!

Age 18: He packs a brand-new rice cooker to college. Bravely, he experiments mixing brown rice with white rice — not bad, crunchy. He also munches on puffed rice bought in Chinatown.

Age 25: Remembered past New Year's Eves when he and his cousins would be dashing in and out of the kitchen lighting punks on the gas stove. At midnight, after playing with firecrackers and rockets, it would be time to rest and eat jook. A saimin bowl full of turkey jook that Popo made. Just add shoyu. "Mom, do you know the recipe for Popo's jook?"

Age 27: He learns to drink sake while on a trip to Japan. "This is made from rice?!"

Age 30 and a newlywed: "I'll cook the rice, Honey."