My sister once told me a joke about why we Asians have such squinted eyes: During dinnertime as kids, we would disdainfully say, “Rice again!?” while plopping our eyes on our heads in disgust. This, in turn, would stretch out our eyes over the years until they were long and thin.

It really is half-true … the rice everyday part. Generation upon generation of Asians ate rice as staple food. Because of this, we are connoisseurs on the subject of cooking rice. It runs in our blood. If you need to know anything about rice - how to make a perfect batch, what equipment you need, how to save a bad batch, etc - ask an Asian.

Sad Reality

When I lived in boarding school, I was appalled at how they cooked rice. It was incredulous! Wet rice? Hard rice? Minute rice? Disgusting! Once, during the school year, I cooked for a couple of my friends and someone said, “I never knew rice could be this fluffy!” How painfully sad! My heart went out to these people! From then on, I decided to publicize the secrets of rice. How does one make perfect, fluffy white rice?

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Taking a break from our Latin American tour of beans and rice, tamales, and menudo, we are visiting the other side of the world. Part of being a perfect housewife is familiarizing yourself with a variety of World cuisines.

One thing I notice about popular TV shows is that the parent network tries to mold the cast into a more politically correct group of actors. They compel the writers to add minorities in the script so that they can appease affirmative action activists or simply just increase their Nielson Ratings Demographic. Take for instance the Applewhites. Mark Cherry wanted to portray this family as Caucasians but the producers did not agree. They wanted to add some “ethnicity.” Practically, every major ethnic group has been portrayed on Desperate Housewives. You have the Hispanic Solis’ and the African American Applewhites. But I ask you. Where are the Asians!? They can live in nice houses too!

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Here in the United States, we’re accustomed to the typical cuisines like Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and of course … American. There are times when I wonder what else is out there on this green earth. Every time I meet people of a different nationality, I like to inquire about their cuisine. “What is the food like in [fill in the blank]?” or “What do you normally eat at home?” Sometimes, I they tell me a tragic response like ramen noodles. Other times, I learn a treasure that I can add to my cooking repertoire.

One such instance was when I met a Brazilian ESL student in high school. This “chica,” named Rochelle, always liked to talk about her life in Brazil. I asked her about the cooking and I learned that apparently their food is very simple. It is simple to make and it tastes simple … without a rush of spices and flavors common to many worldwide dishes. At the time, my favorite food was Mexican, a very rich-tasting cuisine. To me, simple sounded more like boring and bland. How could I like Brazilian food?

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