Article 005: Rice in Every Form — Measured by Palm
Article Summary
A quiet chronicle of days with rice, beginning with farewell to a familiar rice shop.
Through green pea rice, oyster rice, inari-zushi, rice balls—various rice dishes reveal conversations with vessels, honest failures, and gratitude toward a wife.
But the true core lies in a secret ritual: gently slipping one's hand into a rice sack when exhausted.
Knowing this is "difficult for most to understand," the author writes what is real.
Category
Cooking
- I write about one scene from Japanese food culture that I've encountered in my daily life.
I hope you'll read this with the calm feeling of gathering around embers.
1. Farewell to the Rice Shop
When I step out of the car, the rice shop owner greets me with his usual smile: "Welcome. Which rice shall we choose today?"
His wife brings out hot coffee, sweet with plenty of sugar, just as she always does.
It's been three months since my last visit.
We talk with the owner and his wife—seasonal topics, rice market trends, whatever comes to mind.
When the owner's thoughts settle, we turn to discussing recommended rice.
The owner doesn't fuss over price, brand names, or production regions. He recommends delicious rice based on how long it will take us to finish it.
I'm grateful for this.
In the early days, I asked for five-step milled rice.
When he runs it through the large milling machine that reaches the warehouse ceiling, 30 kilograms of brown rice finishes milling in moments.
Watching rice flow through the transparent cylinder never grows tiresome, no matter how many times I see it.
I once tried pounding brown rice as a child using a glass jar and stick, and each time I'm impressed by how far milling technology has advanced.
Back then, I got so absorbed in pounding rice that I covered everything around me with bran.
I can still picture my mother's troubled face.
As my relationship with the rice shop deepened, I was drawn to the appeal of freshly milled rice and eventually purchased a home milling machine.
Cleaning the bran stuck to the machine is demanding work, but for delicious rice, the cleanup afterward doesn't bother me at all.
Then, something difficult happened.
Perhaps it was the flow of time—my regular rice shop closed down.
I won't see that friendly couple's smiling faces anymore.
It leaves my heart heavy, but since a life without rice was unthinkable, I needed to find another source.
Fortunately, through a friend's introduction, I managed to find my next purchasing place.
2. Rice and Pickled Plum
Rice served on an Oribe-ware square plate, alongside the first pickled plum we made at home.
Both are modest in their assertion. The plum's sourness draws out the rice's sweetness, and I end up eating too much.
3. Green Pea Rice
Green pea rice served in Hagi-ware and Karatsu-ware tea bowls, with pickled plum arranged on a halo-backed plate.
The Hagi-ware vessel has a wide mouth opening and flattened height, making it easy to sense the green pea fragrance—a shape that suits me.
4. Black Rice and Curry
An acquaintance told me that mixing black rice with white rice makes the rice tastier, and shared about one cup's worth with me.
Just then, the curry I'd been preparing since yesterday had reached its best moment.
We decided right away to cook rice with black rice mixed in.
This time I wanted the rice slightly firmer, so I deliberately used my usual water amount, and it came out exactly as I'd aimed.
Everything was good up to that point, but the curry's punch was too strong.
This was a failure.
The rice would have been delicious eaten alone, but when combined with curry, the black rice flavor disappeared completely.
Next time, I want to try pairing it with pickles.
5. Oyster Rice
This time, I used "oyster rice seasoning mix" that I'd carefully kept in stock since our Hiroshima trip.
Both the seasoning and how it cooked turned out deliciously, just as I'd hoped.
I'd planned to save half and make oyster rice balls, but it was too good—we ate all the oysters.
Making rice balls became next time's pleasure.
It paired wonderfully with simmered dried daikon, and I kept eating too much.
Next time, I want to try challenging myself starting from preparation, since the large oysters I bought at "Roadside Station Kashima" in Kashima City, Saga Prefecture were so delicious.
I'm already looking forward to next year.
6. Inari-zushi
Inari-zushi arranged on a Hagi-ware square plate.
The familiar dashi fragrance drifts from the kitchen, and suddenly I'm hungry.
My wife had just been preparing fried tofu and sushi rice.
Store-bought seasonings interest me, but in the end I settle on the flavor of fried tofu my wife has simmered.
Like a spell, I say "please make this again" every time I finish eating.
And thanks to that one phrase, perhaps, my wife seems in better spirits than usual when making inari-zushi.
7. Seaweed Rice Balls
Seaweed rice balls arranged on a Hagi-ware square plate.
When I work all day, I have my wife make rice balls for lunch.
When work is urgent, I can finish eating quickly, which I'm very grateful for.
As always, the seaweed fragrance, salt balance, and how firmly they're shaped are exquisite.
So even though I'm in a hurry, I end up eating "just one more, just one more."
8. Adzuki Bean Brown Rice Balls
Our household staple: adzuki bean brown rice balls.
We make them in large quantities and freeze them.
When eating them, I defrost them beforehand in the refrigerator, then toast them golden in the oven or warm them up as adzuki porridge.
9. Rice Is My Friend
The season for new rice has arrived.
When summer weather is severe, I especially worry about how the rice will turn out.
This year, the grains were uniform with little damage from sparrows or insects.
At our house, we purchase rice as brown rice and mill it at home.
Since rice getting infested is serious trouble, I always pay careful attention to storage location management.
Just me, but when I'm terribly exhausted, I gently slip my hand into the rice sack until my wrist is hidden.
When I slip my hand in, I can't help saying to the rice: "Sorry to disturb your rest for a moment."
Then, empty-minded, I sense the rice fragrance and warmth rising from the sack.
I lean against the sack just like that until my breathing settles.
I think this action is difficult for most to understand.
My wife is exasperated, but for me it's become an important ritual.
Life is still long, so we avoid pushing ourselves and carefully care for our minds and bodies.
10. This Time's Summary
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てのひらで しずかにはかる こめのせい
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[Té no hira dé shiz'ka ni hakaru komé no séï]
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Thé, Nos, Hi, Rats, De, Si, Doux, Qu'a, Ni, As, Car, Eau, Coque, Mets, Nos, Seuil.
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Ma main mesure, dans ce grain, la plus grande promesse du prochain matin.
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References
For references, please use the link below.
References consulted this time are: 料 01, 料 02, 料 03, 料 08.
Audio data (sound): 2025_005_ja01
Audio data (reading): 2025_005_ja02 (in progress)
Microsoft Clipchamp: Brigitte, VOICEVOX: 四国めたん
Article End
- I hope to deliver small discoveries and nostalgia to your dining table.