Filipino's Love for Rice

Hi guys, I'm back! I wrote this article a couple of weeks ago but haven't been able to edit it for publishing. But I'm happy to share my fifth article to you.  Hope you will enjoy reading it as much as my other articles.  This time I will be talking about rice, which Filipinos and other Asians, can't live without.

I clearly remember only two scientific names during my Botany class, more than 20 years ago when I was a freshman student. One is Zea mays, which is corn and the other one is Oryza sativa, which is the domesticated rice. Probably because they are short and easy to remember. Why do Asians, specifically Filipinos, eat a lot of rice. Why is it our staple food. We eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, sometimes even for snack..

Let's review the history of rice.  Research shows that domesticated rice originated from China, and it was spread throughout Southeast Asia, later to Europe, then to America. But several years ago, Korea claimed that the rice originated from their country. Although their claim was received with scepticism. It was cited that their claim was for the country's interests.

In the Philippines, rice became the bulk of farm produce in our country.. but since Filipinos eat so much rice, we still import rice from other countries. In fact, Philippines is the hightest importer of rice all over the world.

You will know if the house is owned by a Filipino if you see rice cooker in the kitchen. Its the most convenient way to cook rice, instead of boiling it in a pot. Rice is always paired with meat, fish and vegetables. Ask majority of Filipinos, and they will tell you they cant live without rice.

There are different varieties of Philippine rice.  These are milagrosa, malagkit, sinandomeng, dinorado, wag wag among others. But since we don't have those varieties here in the Midwest, we mostly prefer jasmine rice from Thailand because of its fragrance and stickiness. Brown, red and black rice are becoming popular too. It was claimed they are healthier that white rice.

Rice is also made into kakanin (native delicacies). Glutinous rice is usually used. We have suman, bibingka, biko, puto and sapin sapin. It is also made into noodles (rice noodles) like pansit. Cooked rice can also be made into fried rice or sinangag, and is very popular for breakfast. Served in combination with sunny side up egg and tapa, sausage/longanisa, tocino or fried bangus. Or you can make it into congee or porridge, like arroz caldo and champorado. Best eaten during cold and rainy days.

I don't know about you, but by writing about rice made me crave for it. I promised myself I will limit my rice to lose a little weight, but after writing this article, I think I deserve a cup of rice! Lol.. I bet you are also reaching for a plate and scooping rice from your rice cooker by now. Haha.. Happy eating!!