Deep fried rice

Do you like your rice?
Do you like it coming 'round twice?

How do you like your rice?
Try deep-fried - it's kind of nice!

As I enter my fifth year of living in rice-is-not-just-a-staple-but-a-small-(or not so small)-demi-god countries, I thought I had seen it all. I've had my rice, once, twice, three times a day. I've had it dry, I've had it soupy, I've had it sticky, I've had it salted, sweet and served with vinegar sauce. I've had it boiled, baked, steamed and fried Chinese-style. I've had it white, red and dyed blaze orange. I've had it in mountains and I've had it neat little bowls. I've eaten it with spoons and I've eaten it with chopsticks. I've even eaten it with my fingers. I thought I could not be surprised.

And yet, there it was - the new permutation - that surprised us at lunch the other day.

If you scroll back a few blog posts, you'll see my discussion of "Chung Cake" or bành chung, the baked/steamed sticky-rice cake that is so popular during the Lunar New Year. Well, ever tried to get rid of that leftover fruitcake? I've heard stories of what people have done. We had five cakes, and we can only eat so much of that stuff. IT's good, but really. We considered giving our leftover cakes to the street lady who sleeps on the corner. But apparently the rest of the community already had that idea. Chung Cake can't be thrown out, or given to dogs. They've already had too much. So, there it sat, in our fridge, waiting for us to get brave enough to either eat it or do something about it.

We weren't fast enough. One day for lunch time we came down to find the usual assortment of plates sitting on the table, prepared by our devoted cook. Tomoko and I uncovered them one by one, and when we got to the last, we paused, shrugged as Kieu's never presented us with anything too inedible, dished up the rice fresh from the rice cooker, and tucked in to the variety on the table.

Tomoko and I didn't discuss it, but we both assumed that the unidentified plate was breaded fish. She was the first to spear a fillet off the plate. I reached for one as she took a bite - and I asked how the fish was. She paused mid-bite, looked at the crumbly-covered square thoughtfully, then announced, "This isn't fish, it's rice."

So - you Madagascar PCVs, we have officially found the worst possible loaka (topping, dish to accompany) for your rice - breaded and deep-fried rice. I think that beats the rice-potatoes-pasta meal any day.

When considered by itself, deep-fried rice isn't all that bad. Since the cake is made from sticky rice, it's definately solid enough to hold it's shape. It makes for convenient eating when fried, but it basically tastes like it sounds - deep-fried rice.

Do you like your rice?
Do you like it coming 'round twice?

How do you like your rice?
Try deep-fried - it's kind of nice!