Link Party No.33

Thanks to those of you who left nice comments about my bento post! It is fun to hear other peoples' opinions and experiences. Isn't it fun to take what is fun and interesting from other cultures and incorporate it into our lives?

I had quite a busy day today, and before I had to leave home at 10 AM I made pot stickers. Yes... the precious time that could have been used for my projects. Oh well, I made my family happy, and my tummy is very happy too. :)

So, I really don't have anything to share about me project wise. Although, some of you had questions about rice, so I will try to answer them.

There were questions like, why their rice is not very sticky, or why doesn't it taste good at room temperature.

Well, I am guessing it is probably something to do with the type of rice you used. Where you live? (the area I live is high altitude and dry). Growing up, I always ate really good tasty rice, it was very sweet and sticky... but I didn't think much of it because it was normal for us. Some relatives who are farmers always sent us some.

After I got married and moved out here, I had no idea which brand of rice to buy, so I just bought a bag of rice with some Japanese on it. I just thought that they are all the same. WRONG! I mean BIG TIME WRONG! When I cooked and ate the first bite, my reaction was "what the ...".

It tasted sooo different than what I was used to. It was not sweet and sticky as the rice I knew.

Since then, I learned that (I am strictly speaking about Japanese rice because I don't know about the rest) 99.9% of the time, the more expensive rice from Japan such as; "Kin-mai", "Nozomi", "koshihikari" taste better than "Kokuho" or "Botan". Although, my family breezes through one bag of rice (50 lbs.) so fast, that is the brand I buy. There are a few things you can do to improve the taste and texture of the rice.

1. I use my rice cooker to cook my rice. I add more water than it says in the instructions. For example, if I want to cook 4 cups of rice, I will make the water level 4 1/2 to almost 5.

2. It is better to let the water and rice sit for a while, rather than to cook right after you wash them.

3. Using a pressure cooker can improve the taste of the rice too.

4. My mother told me that the Shin-mai(newly harvested rice) tastes better than Ko-mai (year old or more).

So, I think it largely depends on which brand you buy, but I hope those tips will help you to eat better tasting sticky rice. :)

Ok, let's start the link party!

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.


<br /><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462799092490427250" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtc9CFJR6Te5CpNgHYGsz2oQcSPEa7ev57prQmm-wO7bU5-IXOUTAJV08BvA-pbdpS2QCr864re5ljtzEGNU20emgmsiG0eSXBf9nArpxdnE1SRy7EGrrnSSMYTt3mS2C3S9d6A8bRk7E/s200/GrabButtonLinkParty.jpg" /></a><br />


Enjoy!!!