March 16 2004, 11:32 PM Notes From The Field, The Kitchen, The Field

I Did Not Buy Them

There is something in the offing called the Slow Food Movement, dedicated at least in part to the notion that we are losing our cultural cuisines in the face of modernized, styrofied foodstuffs. In my own way, I am holding my banner with them. There is the community of souls who make up the Raw Food Movement, holding forth that we would do better to eat raw (vegetal) foods. For the past few sets of season, we have been paying attention to those things that are ripe in their proper time, and we have eaten with them at the center when we could. And today, standing in line at the corner store with my paper and my quintessential American cup of coffee with the flavored creamer in, juggling the small sin of a donut, my eyes turned over to the slim wire shelving near the register, upon which sat a row of shiny silvered bags all full of air and potato chips, Dill Pickle Flavor.

Rice With Stuff

So here's one way to make rice with stuff.

I will note here that this is a popular dish in parts of the world, and it goes by many names, one name more than others. It is made in too many ways to count, and the following is not meant to be in any way authentic, authoritative, or anything else assonant. The normal rules apply: read the whole thing, for the following has twists and turns in.

You can use some meat.

We usually use beef, either thinly sliced strips of reasonable streak or ground whatever. Avoid stewing beef; this stuff will be cooked quickly. Marinate the meat for however long in toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, and truly aggressive amounts of grated ginger and mashed garlic. This is highly recommended, but optional if meat is not your thing.

For the soy sauce, go exploring and get a good one. This might mean attending new markets. It most certainly means avoiding soy sauce "tempered with a touch of lemon juice and a hint of honey".

You will need some rice.

Any kind of rice, really. We've used American long grain white, Thai jasmine, Japanese medium, red rice, black rice. Sticky types of rice seem to work less well. Basmati, although quite a brilliant rice, is very odd in this. We like the jasmine a lot. Go get some jasmine rice. Get it in a canvas sack. Get it where you got the soy sauce from.

You can cook the rice in a pot. I would offer some words to that, but I cannot make rice in pots. In my family we all have blind spots in the kitchen, and one of mine is rice in pots. An alternative which I heartily endorse is a rice cooker: we have a fancy one with a timer on it, because we use it to make breakfast for us. As far as actually making the rice, it doesn't do it any better or worse than less expensive models with less features. One thing to consider: get a rice cooker a size larger than you think you need.

You will need some vegetables.

This is wide open. We run through the refrigerator, pulling out this and that. Carrots, sprouts, broccoli, water cress, kohlrabi, cabbage, coriander, cucumber. Pick out two or three (or more) and wash and peel and slice them small (and thin), and steam them or fry them or leave them as wanted. Have them ready.

You will need an egg.

An egg per diner, if the diner wants an egg.

You will need the magic sauce.

I play my hand here. This is Korean red hot pepper paste, smooth and gloppish stuff the color of old bricks. It can be a little spicy, but it is very necessary. If you can find it, get the rice and soy sauce at that place. If you cannot, the ubiquitous red rooster hot pepper and garlic sauce is a reasonable substitute, used in moderation.

Quickly, now.

Start the rice. Cook the marinated meat until just done, and have it ready. Prepare the vegetables and have them ready. Get out some big soup bowls. Just (and I do mean just) before the rice is done, lightly fry an egg for anyone that wants one, so as not to set the yolk at all, at all. When the rice is ready, scoop it into the bowls, top with vegetables and meat right quick, slide the fried egg over top, and add a dollop of pepper paste.

Then: stir! Stir like a maddened alchemist, finding gold. Poke the egg to bits with your spoon. Get it everywhere. Get pepper paste on everything. Stir! Then eat.

(I will point out here that, yes, this thing involves a somewhat less than fully cooked egg. If that sort of thing is an issue, by all means replace with an egg well scrambled, or omit the egg entirely.)

There are more authentic names for this, and more authentic preparations. For us, the rules are highly variable: we have omitted the meat, we have overpowered the rice with wilted greens. I take an egg on mine, while the one across the table will not. The rice is always there, but how could it not be?

It is good food for cold, damp evenings: warming, spicy, creamy, zesty, hearty, and crunchy with vegetable. Rice with Stuff.

Marketing

The other day, we found cheesecake flavored cream cheese at the grocery.