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Of Rice and Malaysian...



Yes, I am talking about rice, our staple food. That we cannot do without. It is our basic that we take daily. From breakfast to dinner and at time during teatimes where we had traditional cakes made of rice. Goreng Pisang [fried banana] cannot be Goreng Pisang without been coated with the rice flour. It would not taste as good with other flour. At time we just took this commodity for granted, as though that it is always there when we need it. That is why in the Malay culture it is a sin to throw even a single grain of this wonder grain call Rice. It must be given due respect for it has been the staple food of Asian for centuries. In fact, that's what made the Asian race resilience all the centuries.

Another aspect that should be known about rice is that it does not take much doing to get it cooked and ready to eat. Whereas for wheat, it takes many processes before it could be eaten. In rice what one got to do is to wash it and steam cooks it. And Voila! In mere fifteen minutes your get to enjoy it. As for wheat it surely takes more than fifteen minutes to even get a bun baked. So, as you can see, indeed Rice is a wonder grain. It grows fast and with the husk taken, it is ready to be cook unlike the wheat where it had to be turned into flour, kneaded into dough and then bakes before it could be eaten. That my friends are the wonder of rice.

Friends, there are news of shortage of rice in some part of Asia and this worry us as well. As for me I know very well when it is almost impossible to get rice daily during the Japanese occupation of Malaya from 1941 to 1945. Folks who could not get rice had to do with eating Ubi Kayu [tapioca] and if they get little of it they would use it for making porridge so that whatever rice they had could be used for a longer period. Well, that was then but now our markets are full of all sorts of varieties of rice. Both the local and the imported one are available all the times. From the cheapest to the dearest one where price is not controlled. So, when news that there are shortages of rice in some countries in this part of the world, we in Malaysia began to fear of rice shortage as well. To allay that fear the authority has assured consumers that there are ample stocks of rice in this country.

So folks do takes it easy and continue to enjoy this wonderful grain that we call Rice. The Ikan Asam Pedas [fish stewed in sort of hot/sour] as shown in the image above is great to go with the white Rice. It is one of the Malay traditional dishes that had been around for a long time and it surely could not be enjoyed without that wonderful white Rice. 

Have a nice day.


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