HOW
RICE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON THE TABLE, AND NOT JUST IN ASIA
Thailand is the world's sixth largest producer of rice. Here
Thai Muslim and Buddhist farmers working together to harvest rice in Mai Kaen,
Pattani province /
AFP/Getty
Grown on every
continent in the world except for Antarctica, rice is more than a staple. It's
life to millions and is the basis for practically every meal in many countries.
But why doens't the UK have the same affinity to it, asks Julia Platt
Leonard
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INDY/LIFE
INDY/LIFE
In Thailand, you don’t ask
friends if they’ve had dinner yet. You ask, “Kin khao ayung?”
Translated? Have you had rice yet? Food writer Kay Plunkett-Hogge, who was born
and raised in Thailand, says it shows how critical rice is in Thai and South
East Asian food and cooking. “It is the most important thing on the table,” she
says. “Every dish goes with it, not the other way around.”
Thailand
isn’t alone in its love of rice. According to the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI), rice is a staple food for over half the world’s population.
About 90
per cent of worldwide rice production comes from Asia – an area IRRI
defines as reaching from Pakistan in the west to Japan in the east. While most
rice is grown and eaten locally – never entering the export market – the volume
of international trade has almost quadrupled since the 1960s, with Thailand,
Vietnam and India leading exporters.
Malaysians
furious after prime minister says he prefers quinoa to rice
Food writer Yasmin Khan, author
of The Saffron Tales,
says her grandfather was a rice farmer and that rice plays a crucial role in
Iranian cuisine. “In Iran, cooking rice is elevated to an art form and a cook
is judged on the quality of his or her rice.”
She says
Iranians are fastidious about how rice is cooked – each grain should be
elongated and separate. “Even to this day, the bit of my meal I get most
nervous about when hosting a dinner is the rice!”
For her, a favourite rice dish
is loobia
polo – a layered rice dish with minced lamb, tomatoes,
potatoes and green beans, spiced with cinnamon, turmeric and cumin. “It’s my
ultimate comfort food,” she says.
TA TA
Eatery's 72 hours braised Galacianbrisket
and fermented pumpkin Ricewich(tata_eatery/Instagram)
In fact,
rice is grown on every continent except Antarctica. Notably, it’s not grown in
Britain which may be one reason it doesn’t feature in our cooking as it does in
rice growing countries. “So much of Thai culture is built around rice farming
and eating,” says Plunkett-Hogge.
“Arguably,
it’s through rice agriculture that the peoples who became Thai settled the
central plains in the first place. That gives them an inbuilt reverence for it.
Rice doesn’t grow in Britain, so we don’t have the same connection to it.
It becomes just another ingredient.”
But is
that changing? Zijun Meng and Ana Goncalves hope so. They originally launched
TA TA Eatery in London’s Druid Street market, selling three different rice
bowls and then created a “ricewich” – a rice sandwich with nori on the outside
and grilled short ribs inside. “Rice plays a big part in Portuguese and Chinese
cuisine (Goncalves is originally from Portugal while Meng is from China).”
“We
didn’t know the type of food we were going to do when we started TA TA Eatery.
Each of us wrote down the foods we love and rice appeared on both of our
lists.” They acknowledge that rice is typically seen in England as a carb to
soak up liquid but they’re keen to show its versatility with dishes like a
puffed rice dessert, toasted rice-infused dashi and a toasted rice-flavoured
oil.
For their next two-day pop up they’ll include
a sake-glazed Iberian pork rice bowl and toasted rice ice cream.
The rice
harvest in Catarroja,
Valencia is much denser than in Asia (Rex )
For chef Marcia Barrington, rice
too is a key ingredient in Valencia, Spain where she spends much of her year.
Rice was brought to Spain in the 10thcentury
where it was – and still is – grown in Valencia. “Rice is life! Rice forms part
of the Valencian identity,” says Barrington.
“Everyone
talks about paella, cooks paella and eats rice dishes of which there are many.”
While Barrington has been travelling to Spain since she was a child, she’s
still learning about different types of rice grown in Valencia.
“On my last trip I had a chat
with a seller friend in the central market and she recommended I try the
Valencian Albufera rice. It’s a blend of the Senia and Bomba varieties.
It cooks really quickly within 20 minutes, holds stock well and has great
flavour.”
How to cook perfect rice by Kay Plunkett-Hogge
This is
my perfect Thai jasmine rice recipe – although I have used it for basmati and
American and it has worked just as well.
Rinse 1
cup/mug/whatever of rice well in a sieve under cold water. Now pop it into a
pot with a good lid. Add 1 1/3 volume of cold water. Bring to the boil,
uncovered. When it gets there, cover and turn the heat right down. Cook gently
for 10-12 minutes to absorb all the water. Check it’s done. Older rice will
need a dash more water and a couple more minutes. You should be able to smell
the perfume. Allow the rice to rest, covered, off the heat for about 5-10
minutes, so the grains puff up in the residual steam. Job done.
For Plunkett-Hogge in Thailand,
the variety that’s caught her eye is one called Sangyod. It only grows in a
few places in Thailand and thrives on brackish, salty water.
And it’s
water of course that’s key to rice. With rice consumption growing, there is
increased demand on farmers to produce more, but climate change means some
areas get too much rain while others are facing drought conditions.
And
while rice loves water it dies if completely submerged for too long, a problem
for low lying areas subject to flooding due to rising sea levels.
IRRI
points to a report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
forecasting that rice prices could increase by between 32-37 per cent by
2050 due to climate change with a drop in production of almost 15 per
cent in both South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Work is being done to
manage water usage, to create seed varieties better suited to handle climate
change, and to control flooding – but will it be enough?
It’s a
major cause for concern, Khan feels. “As with all farming, climate change and
international trade rules are the biggest factors facing the future of rice
farming and supply.
In Iran
for example, it is cheaper to buy imported rice from China or India than
locally produced rice. Promoting food sovereignty for farmers is central for
the health of our planet and local economies all over the world.”
And it’s
small farmers who grow much of the world’s rice. Their livelihoods – their very
lives – depend on finding ways to protect their crops while meeting our
insatiable hunger for rice.
Arroz negro con
calamares black rice with squid
Serves 2
Spanish ‘black rice’ is a
typical dish in Valencia as well as other parts of Spain. It is super easy to
make and tastes sensational. My recipe serves 2 yet is very easy to increase
for 4 or 6 guests. I allow 100g of rice and 1 whole, cleaned squid per person
with tentacles. For the rice, I have used a newly found albufera variety
from Valencia that I discovered in the Mercat Central. Yet the more familiar bomba or calasparra rice
will work well and are easy to find outside of Spain. In terms of the rice to liquid
ratio, I always have 3 times stock volume to rice simmering on the hob. I find
that a 2:1 ratio of fish stock to rice is never quite enough for the fat little
round rice grains used for this type of dish. Be generous.
1 x
paella pan (28-30cm) or equivalent
Olive oil approx. 90ml/6 tablespoons
1 small onion, fine diced
3 small cloves of garlic, crushed
200g redondo, (round) short Spanish rice (bomba, calasparra)
1 glass of dry white wine
4 sachets of squid ink (available from fishmongers)
600ml fresh fish stock (available from fishmongers)
2 whole, cleaned squid with tentacles in tact (Ask your fishmonger to clean) Squid tubes cut into 2-3inch pieces and scored diagonally, taking care not to score all the way through
1 whole Spanish or un-waxed lemon cut into quarters
Olive oil approx. 90ml/6 tablespoons
1 small onion, fine diced
3 small cloves of garlic, crushed
200g redondo, (round) short Spanish rice (bomba, calasparra)
1 glass of dry white wine
4 sachets of squid ink (available from fishmongers)
600ml fresh fish stock (available from fishmongers)
2 whole, cleaned squid with tentacles in tact (Ask your fishmonger to clean) Squid tubes cut into 2-3inch pieces and scored diagonally, taking care not to score all the way through
1 whole Spanish or un-waxed lemon cut into quarters
Heat
approx. 60ml/4tablespoons of olive oil in a paella pan if you have one, or
similar. Add the finely diced onion and cook gently until soft. Add the crushed
garlic and cook until you smell its aroma, roughly about 3 minutes or so.
Add the
rice and gently combine. With the heat on medium, add the white wine, stir into
the rice allowing it to reduce and burn off the alcohol.
Meanwhile
pour your stock into a saucepan and gently heat ready to start adding to the
rice. You will note that I am using a 3:1 ratio of fish stock to rice. I prefer
to have extra to hand as I find the rice always takes more than double its
volume of liquid. So for 200g of bomba, calasparra, or round short Spanish
rice, I have 600ml of fresh fish stock on the go.
I like
the rice to be quite black and therefore add 2 sachets of squid ink per person.
So, next, gently squeeze 4 sachets of squid ink into the rice along with a
ladle of warm stock.
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Gently
combine everything together to colour the rice. I then add the stock in maybe 3
or so additions shaking the paellera gently and stirring just a little until
cooked through. Always taste for doneness. You want the rice to be soft all the
way through the grain.
You can
at this point add a little salt if required. Yet I find that the rice has lots
of flavour and very little seasoning is needed, especially if you have used a
good quality fish stock. Turn the rice off when cooked and allow it to rest for
5 minutes while you finish the squid. Heat a small frying pan to hot then add
the remaining 30ml olive. Add the squid and cook until the flesh becomes opaque
and begins to curl up. This should be super quick! Remove and set aside.
To serve, place the squid on top
of the rice. If you like, sprinkle the squid with a dusting of Spanish sweet
smoked pimentón. There are two varieties of pimentón, and I can say, hand on
heart, that the picante is very picante indeed. Have
some good quality lemon wedges to hand also, very much needed for squeezing
over the rice. Finally, please, please resist the English temptation to hurl
parsley over this dish. It is really not very pleasant to eat and unnecessary.
Instead, enjoy the rice with a fresh aioli perhaps a little open textured
bread; accompanied by a chilled glass of Alboriño, Verdejo or
good Spanish dry white.
Marcia
Barrington © Valencia, March 2018. Instagram @marciabarrington
Career Award Supports Sustainable Rice
Farming Work
University of Arkansas researcher collaborates with Arkansas
rice farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Article
ID: 692345
Released: 6-Apr-2018 8:05 AM EDT
Source
Newsroom: University
of Arkansas, Fayetteville
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Credit: University of Arkansas
Benjamin Runkle, University of
Arkansas
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KEYWORDS
· rice farming, rice agriculture, U.S. Department Of Agriculture, National Science Foundation
(NSF) , U.S. Geological Survey,
Newswise — FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Benjamin Runkle, assistant
professor of biological and agricultural engineering, has received a $500,199
Faculty Early Career Development award from the National Science Foundation to
expand his research on sustainable rice production.
Runkle works with several farmers in the Delta region of Arkansas
to develop and test alternative irrigation strategies for rice production.
Together they are trying to reduce the quantity of water used, which in turn
decreases the amount of methane produced in flooded rice fields. They are
attemping to do this without decreasing rice production, and in some cases they
expect to actually increase crop yields.
Rice is a staple food for more than 3 billion people worldwide,
and Arkansas is the top American rice producer. However, current rice farming
methods, which involve keeping rice fields flooded with water, have a high
environmental impact. Rice production consumes significant water resources and
accounts for roughly 10 percent of humans’ overall methane emissions into the
atmosphere. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
“We hope that this project will expand sustainable rice production
by validating recent conservation incentive programs that have supported
alternative irrigation practices in more than 40,000 acres of rice fields in
Arkansas,” Runkle said. “By fine-tuning these practices we hope to make them
more accessible across the mid-South.”
The NSF award will enable Runkle to quantify the climate impact of
these water-saving irrigation strategies. Rather than the traditional paddy
style of rice farming, which involves flooding the field, one new strategy
focuses on irrigating and drying the furrows between rows of rice plants.
Another strategy uses plastic piping with multiple inlets to more efficiently
irrigate fields. In addition to saving water, these practices deliver oxygen
into the soil, which both prevents microbes from producing methane and inhibits
their growth, thus significantly reducing methane emissions from the field.
Additionally, with this practice, less carbon dioxide is produced, because by
saving water, less energy is used by the pumps that pull groundwater from the
aquifers for irrigation.
One of the problems of current rice farming methods is uncertainty
about the exact amount of greenhouse gases emitted through the various stages
of production. Runkle’s team will measure these critical emissions to establish
baselines for comparison to emissions from more sustainable methods.
This project will inform policy and investment decisions in
Arkansas and the mid-South. The findings will help farmers transition from
conservation programs based solely on water savings to programs that integrate
water conservation with greenhouse gas emission credits. These credits are
facilitated by a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Terra Global Capital.
For his rice-farming research, Runkle has received funding from Arkansas
Water Resources Center and the U.S. Geological Survey’s 104B
grant program, which provides “seed” grants to gather pilot data that can be
used for larger grant proposals. His work is also supported by the Natural
Resources Conservation Service.
About CAREER Awards: The
Faculty Early Career Development Program, better known as CAREER, is the
National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award in support of junior
faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding
research, education and integration of both within the context of their
institution’s mission. Research activities supported by CAREER awards build the
foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/career-award-supports-sustainable-rice-farming-work
Scientist gets 10 years for theft of gene-modified rice
U.S. customs agents found seeds in luggage headed to China
by Marc S. Reisch
APRIL 6, 2018
MOST
POPULAR IN POLICY
Credit: iStock
Scientist Weiqiang Zhang is going to jail for stealing
genetically modified rice.
Chinese scientist Weiqiang Zhang was sentenced on April 4 to
more than 10 years in a federal prison for conspiring to steal samples of
genetically altered rice seeds from his employer, the Kansas biotech firm
Ventria Biosciences.A Kansas jury had convicted Zhang in February 2017 on theft charges, including conspiring to steal trade secrets and giving them to a visiting delegation of scientists from a Chinese crop research institute.
Zhang, 51, a rice breeder, helped develop gene-altered rice designed to express recombinant proteins.
Zhang’s case is similar to a number of others in which scientists have stolen intellectual property from their employer and given it to researchers in other countries.
For instance, Dow AgroSciences researcher Kexue Huang pled guilty in 2011 to stealing trade secrets from Dow Chemical and Cargill and passing them on to Chinese researchers. In 2010, DuPont engineer Michael Mitchell was sentenced to 18 months in prison for passing on DuPont’s aramid fiber trade secrets to South Korea’s Kolon Industries.
According to court documents and evidence the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) presented at the trial, Zhang’s role in the conspiracy surfaced in August 2013 when U.S. customs agents discovered multiple packets of Ventria rice seed in the luggage and carry-on bags of a delegation from a Chinese crop research institute. The group was headed back to China after a tour of U.S. agricultural facilities that included a visit to Zhang’s home.
Some of the seed was packaged in makeshift containers, including a newspaper page folded into an envelope and a plastic bag from a Best Western Hotel.
Zhang, who has a masters degree from Shengyang Agricultural University and a Ph.D. in agricultural genetics from Louisiana State University, stole hundreds of rice seeds from Ventria and stored them in his home prior to the delegation’s visit, DOJ said. The seeds included varieties developed to produce human serum albumin, contained in blood, and lactoferrin, an iron-binding protein found in human milk.
Separately, another scientist admitted he was part of the conspiracy and knew about plans to steal the rice on behalf of the visiting Chinese delegation, according to the DOJ. In 2016, Wengui Yan, a geneticist who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the Dale Bumpers National Research Center in Stuttgart, Ark., admitted he lied to the FBI about the plans.
Zhang and Yan had both made arrangements for the delegation’s visit and hosted the group on their U.S. tour. Also, both had visited the delegates in China prior to the tour, a fact they concealed from their employers, according to the DOJ.
Yan, who has a Ph.D. in plant genetics from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, is still awaiting sentencing.
https://cen.acs.org/policy/intellectual-property/Scientist-10-years-theft-gene/96/web/2018/04
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