During the past five months while keeping close to home I have been eating more rice than usual.

This is partly because rice is easy to make, but also because I am trying to eat a bit healthier.

Rice can also be used in many different dishes, like this Salmon Rice Soup.

I am also thinking about differences in culture. Shown here is a typical rice aisle in a grocery store here in the US.

Here is a typical rice aisle in a grocery store that has mainly Asian customers.  You will see similar displays in Hispanic markets.

I am thinking of some great rice dishes that I had in Korea.

This rice dish is from Japan and is a typical ending to a hot pot. Rice is added to the remaining broth to capture the flavors of all the food that has been cooked during the meal.

Of course, rice also takes other forms like these rice noodles in a Chinese restaurant.

Sushi is another food we think of that has rice, and in fact if it doesn’t have rice it is not sushi. Some people think of sushi as being raw fish, but that is not what sushi is. In fact there are many types of sushi that do not have fish, and even some that have cooked fish.

Raw fish in Japanese cuisine is known as sashimi, which is also very good. However, if you have a small slice of raw fish and put it on top of rice you have sushi 🙂

I had a small bowl of rice for lunch today along with some tuna, and this evening had a Pepper Beef dish that included rice.

Tomorrow I will have to figure out what to do with the leftover rice from lunch.

Steven