Have you eaten rice? — issue #14

The first time I tried Korean tteok-bokki, I hardly knew whom I was eating it with.

We'd just moved into our new house, and it was one of our first meals together—the same week Singapore's COVID-19 lockdown closed all our favourite dine-in restaurants. My housemates prepared the chewy rice-flour cake with Shin Ramyun instant noodles, crab sticks, and onsen eggs. The aroma of gojuchang wafted into my room, tangy and inviting.

Even then, I knew things were off to a good start.

Rice is a "staple food" here in Asia, but the term barely captures the significance we attach to the humble grain. Consider the greeting, "Have you eaten rice yet?". Heard throughout Southeast Asia, it offers both concern and quiet support, though its use is falling out of fashion with younger generations.

By now, we've shared countless conversations over the same pot of rice at home—or noodles every once in a while—often with generous splashes of sake and soju. Both beverages, like dozens of Asian liquors and wines from arak (Indonesia) to Pangasi (the Philippines), begin with rice.

Even instant noodles—often made of rice flour—can bring people together. These cheap, convenient packets need just boiling water to unleash their flavours (though there are endless ways to jazz them up), making them the perfect social meal. No wonder they've been used as prison currency and by shy youths flirting in South Korea!

Rice, in all its diverse forms, has brought us closer in a mere few months. What memories have you made with others over a bowl of rice or instant noodles—or perhaps even several cups of sake?

 Let us know via hello@kontinentalist.com. It'll inspire us to make a few more of our own.


Kenneth
Editor and Content Strategist