C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

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AtoZBlogChallenge:R is for Rice

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My theme this year is Burma AKA Myanmar. I used to live in Laos, so I looked forward to returning to Southeast Asia. I spent a little over three weeks exploring this country, learning a bit about its culture: its history, religion, and language. I thought others might enjoy some of what I learned and see some of what I saw.

If you don’t like rice, don’t go to Southeast Asia, EVER. I happen to like it, so eating it all times of the day was perfect. It’s their staple. It’s not expensive. It goes with everything and fills you up fast.

Here you can buy it by the hundred pound sack
or the scoop.
My favorite rice treat has always been Sticky Rice Cooked in Bamboo. You peel the stalk and eat the rice like a candy bar. Delicious.
I didn’t have short quiz for yesterday’s letter Q.  But what do you know about rice?
T/F 1. In Burma, it’s believed the Kachins-people from the northern part of that country- came from the center of the earth to sow rice seeds.
T/F 2. Rice requires a lot of water to grow, so it’s limited as to where it can be planted.
Answers tomorrow.

Comments

  7. One thing that surprised me was there wasn't a lot of rice served at our meals in China, and we ate many different things. I expected it to be more of a staple.

    I'm not a huge fan of rice ordinarily, but it's served in such unique and tasty ways in Asian countries. I despair of ever again finding food as wonderful as what I enjoyed in China.

  8. Living in Hawaii, rice is also a staple. I eat it almost every day. I have never seen it in such vast quantities. Usually we just go to the store and buy a 20 lb bag of rice. We also have sticky rice or mochi rice, which the Japanese use to make mochi sweets and the Filipinos make some yummy coconut milk rice treats that look similar to your rice in a bamboo wrapper. At the farmers market, they sell sticky rice in a banana leaf wrapper. It's quite a presentation.
    Maui Jungalow

  10. I love rice! My parents-not so much so rarely got it when growing up (they were meat & potatoes). What flavour is the rice that is reddish in colour(like beets)? I am going to say true to both because the first one is so not true but I could see that being in one of their "fairy" tales. Rice needs water-I've watched enough movies & documentaries to see how they plant the rice:)

  13. How cool!! I"ve never heard of the rice being cooked inside bamboo. I would try that for sure. I love rice. I love coconut rice that I tried before in Canada at a Mongolian restaurant. So good!

  14. Rice…yum! I like rice with milk, cinnamon, and sugar. I made my husband try it because he always just had it with butter and sugar. He LOVED it! It tastes kind of like rice pudding.

  20. We eat a lot of rice. My husband is from India, so many of the dishes involve some wonderful gravy/stew/sauce over rice. Others use rice as a side dish. I love Basmati rice, with its fragrance. Happy to see one can get brown Basmati rice, as well as while, since we are trying to eat healthily.

  24. I have associates from various countires and have found rice to be a staple for so many places around the world. My daughter loves it. I used to eat it all the time as a kid, but I couldn't tell you why I'm not as big on eating it now.

    For the quiz, I think the second answer is true. Some of the pictures I've seen of rice fields look like they have a whole lot of water involved in the growing process.

  30. Hi Lee - I don't eat rice often, but enjoy having it when it's around … I love jasmine rice, and rice pudding too .. but often see huge bags of rice being bought here .. or hearing that friends are going to town (London outskirts) to Asian shop!!

    Rice needs lots of water .. and there could well a myth that the Kachins came to plant rice seeds …

    Cheers Hilary

  31. I do like rice, and yes it is ubiquitous down there. I think both statements could be true, after all it's very significant so coming from the centre of the earth to do it sounds auspicious enough!