As far back as I can remember, the Tatsumoto clan always
had rice in the house. There was the one 25 pound bag of rice “in use” stored
in the mini plastic garbage can and the reserve 25 pound bag sitting next to
the washing machine. If it seemed like there might be a possible Matson strike,
sometimes there were two or even three reserve bags of rice. And yes, way back
when there were only 3 bag sizes of rice available, 10, 25 and 100 pounds. And
the bag in the Tatsumoto household was always Hinode in the yellow bag. Of
course, rice bags back then were always sewn close and I never learned the
secret handshake to undo the sewn closure. If you knew the handshake, the ends
of the two strings could simply be pulled apart to “unzip” the bag… if not,
knots galore.
And because most of this rice was mainly for Dad – he
always had to finish a meal with rice, even if we had take-out pizza – Dad
always went through the laborious process when filling the can with a new bag
of rice. First pouring the leftover rice on the garbage can cover to rotate
each old grain from the new grains in the new bag then slowly pouring the new
bag into the can stopping to remove any bits of rubbish or stones then finally
adding the old rice back on top of the pile.
Laborious Cooking
Because rice was essential for every meal that Dad
consumed, cooking the rice also required extra effort. I’ve noted in previous
columns that the Tatsumoto family never used electric rice cookers to cook rice
because earlier models sometimes left a mucilaginous brown film at the bottom
of the pot that Mom detested. Therefore, all rice was cooked in your old school
aluminum rice pot with the water being measured by your index finger joint and
you had to make sure that the water used to wash the rice ran clear before you
soaked it for the next 30 to 60 minutes. Once the cover rattled after turning
the heat to high, you reduced it to low to steam over the next 20 minutes. And
Mom’s rice pot was so well used that the threading holding the cover knob was
reduced to a smooth exterior so that a wooden clothespin was used on that
smooth nipple to raise or lower the cover. Because we never used an electric
rice cooker, I had to ask for directions when living in the college dormitory
on how to use “this rice cooker gizmo”…
Time Moves On
In the 3rd generation Tatsumoto household,
rice still holds a place in our pantry and on our table though nowhere near to
the extent of the 2nd generation. Our pantry doesn’t contain a
plastic garbage can to hold 25 pound bags of rice but a modest Tupperware
container that simply holds smaller 11 pound bags of California grown
Koshihikari grains. And rice doesn’t grace our dining on a daily basis, it’s
more likely to be bread or pasta that plays the role of starch. In fact, we
usually only cook rice once every 2 or 3 weeks. Perhaps that’s why washing the
Tatsumoto rice is for more than simply removing powdered starch granules, it’s
also to remove those miniscule little critters that thankfully float to the
surface with the cold water for simple elimination. Because we don’t consume a
lot of rice, I tend to purchase the pricier Koshihikari or Yamadanishiki from
our local Marukai Wholesale Mart though I also always keep a bag of Gen Ji
Mai’s 12 whole grain blend along with (gasp) Shirakiku individual portion
microwave rice. Sometimes you want fried rice which can’t be made at the spur
of the moment… unless you use microwave rice.
I even splurged for one of those new-fangled Zojirushi
induction heated, microcomputer controlled cooking vessels since it does a
superlative job on whole grain rice. But I never sampled freshly milled rice…
until now.
The Rice Factory
Located in the heart of Kakaako, The Rice Factory sells 4
to 5 different varieties of rice originating from small family farms in Japan.
What differentiates their product from an artisanal rice from Marukai is that
the rice is actually milled at their store right after you purchase it. They
offer no milling (pure brown rice), 50% milled, 70% milled and 100% milled
(pure white rice) in 5, 10 and 15 pound bags. You’re also instructed to
refrigerate the freshly milled rice and that you should consume it within 1
month (up to 2 months if it’s a winter harvested batch). On the day we visited
the shop they offered:
Nanatsuboshi from Hokkaido
Light taste, less sticky
Used by Hoku’s at The Kahala, 3660 on the Rise,
Restaurant Suntory, Izakaya Gaku
Yumepirika from Hokkaido
The most famous rice in Japan
Used by MW Restaurant, the Halekulani Hotel
Tsuyahime from Yamagata
100% organic with balanced taste, aroma and stickiness
Koshihikari from Nagano
The “King” of rices
Since we normally have a small bag of Japan grown
Koshihikari in our pantry (though not stored in the refrigerator), we purchased
5 pounds of totally milled Koshihikari along with 5 pounds of 50% milled
Yumepirika (supposedly it’s like eating hapa
rice or ½ brown, ½ white). And since man (and woman) don’t live by rice alone,
we also purchased a small block of o-toro
and sake (salmon) sashimi and a fresh carton of local
Waimana eggs.
After letting the Koshihikari soak for 60 minutes, my
Zojirushi cooker did the rest (it actually did the timed soaking also). Once
the rice was ready, I immediately sampled it as is, freshly cooked. Okay, I’ll
turn in my local-boy and my Nihonjin
membership cards. Maybe it’s because I was raised on Hinode rice. Maybe because
we hardly consume rice now days. But other than being a little sweeter, I
couldn’t tell the difference between the “old” rice in my pantry and this new
harvest, freshly milled rice. But it was still superb as tamago meshi and with
those succulent slices of o-toro and sake.
On another day, I performed the same routine with the 50%
milled Yumepirika rice also stored in the refrigerator. This sample was a
little more interesting than the fully milled Koshihikari rice because though
its appearance was like brown rice, the texture was softer probably due to the
partial milling and unlike pure brown rice or even “hapa” rice, the flavor was
also a little sweeter and tasted like fully milled rice.
The big question is whether I’ve been converted from supermarket pre-bagged rice to freshly milled rice. Hard to say. I did notice the difference with the 50% milled rice and having to refrigerate rice does possibly prevent those tiny critters from infesting your grains but it also does mean keeping at least a 5 pound bag of rice in your chill chest that you should consume within the month. But it does keep another local business in business so I’ll probably continue to purchase the freshly milled variety.
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