Inaugural post - Very Rice!

Right now, I'm exuding the smell of korean bbq, which is simultaneously grossing me out because I don't want to smell like eau de boeuf - and making me hungry, even though dinner was not too long ago. No matter! We soldier on, for you, our dear readers, who don't exist just yet.

What better foodstuffs to start the KC blog than the staple of Asian nations and stupid racist jokes?? RICE!! Just like how Italians have oodles of noodles (well, pasta), the star starch of the Korean household is rice (accompanied by its best friend kimchi) at all meals, even breakfast (it is a cereal grain!). Koreans eat short-grain rice, which is starchier and stickier, more like Japanese sushi rice than American Chinese take-out box rice. You can tell good quality rice by its pearly sheen and the way its cute fluffy bodies stick together like the happy friends they are. In fact, if rice is good and well-prepared, in Korean one says "It's very sticky." I guess we weren't terribly creative on that one. But don't confuse this sort of short-grain rice with glutinous or more commonly termed "sticky rice" or "sweet rice" (in Korean, chap ssal).

Ooh vocab lesson time. Ssal is uncooked rice. Bap is cooked rice. You'll probably be more familiar with bap or other such variations if you've had bibimbap ("mix rice"). Hm. When it comes to food, Koreans don't beat around the bush. What dish is that fancy bowl of veggies and meats and spicy stuff and rice over there? Mix rice. Duh.

Most households prepare rice in their handy rice cooker, though the trend nowadays is to use a special kind of cooker that is a sort of pressure cooker. But you can still prepare "It's very sticky" rice in a regularl ol' pot, whatever you have, and for those on-the-go, there's microwavable rice that'll do in a pinch.

Obviously since rice is such a big part of the diet, it takes many forms. Not ghosts though. No rice ghosts. Plus, there are a ton of rice variations and add-ins, whether other grains like barley or wild rice, or veggies and legumes like peas or beans. Rice is a tasty, nubbly canvas to create something fabulous and to fill your bellies. A quick rundown on how to cook it soon to follow.

(Photo from jiva)