What Was Lost Can Be Restored

By: Ryan Thach

My mother has always been somewhat of a solo person. Essentially, she never really had anyone to rely on or trust. For that, my mother always had a million weights on her shoulders and advanced on through her days dealing with them one by one. Looking back at a young age, she remembers coming home and there was always something she could eat to recover from exhaustion. Later on in her life when days felt more like torture, she would always look forward to eating, either at home or at a restaurant.

Within each of these meals, the one ingredient that she always had is Jasmine rice. Although rice is commonly eaten by people across the world, its significance to my mom is that it allows her to move on and deal with her hardships. Jasmine rice was always something she

trusted in. It was a food that wouldn’t let her down and fail her. She felt empowered every time she had rice because it was something that has always fulfilled her mentally and physically. Seeing the once hard, dull, individual grains become fluffy and glowing bunches of steaming rice truly shows how one thing can hold so much meaning to it, even if it is common. Being able to eat rice on a daily basis helped my mom process life, assuring her that she can carry on because there’s always more to look forward to. Home is wherever she was because no matter what, she always has rice to be by her side.

Personally for me, it holds a different meaning. Oftentimes when I was young, I would get sick. And as many people would do when they are sick, I ate porridge and soups. I always remember the steaming rice dispersing from it’s somewhat solid form, into the vast broth. The feeling of testing the heat of a spoonful and burning my tongue and lips is a strong memory that I still remember to this day when I get sick. The rice drifting within the glistening liquid base is always something I can recall and just daydreaming about it makes me feel better internally. There are countless times when I can call to mind my mom yelling, “It will make you feel good, so eat it all.”, or “Eat it quick because you need it and it will get cold and hard.”

I used to hate taking it in because it was too hot to bare, but afterwards, I would always feel healthier and warmer inside. Rice porridge reminds me that whenever you feel pain, you are on the path of recovering from your issues. Rice is something many people may see as simple, but it is necessary.

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Rice Porridge

(Bor Bor)

Ingredients:

3-4 Cups of Rice
Water
Pot
Rice cooker
Ladle

Directions:

Step 1. For 3 servings, wash about 3-4 cups of rice.

Step 2. Make sure to thoroughly rinse and clean the rice to your preference. Personally, I would wash it 3 times with around 40-50 movements in about 30 seconds each.

Step 3. Depending on how you make rice, add the amount of water needed for your creation. Then set it into the rice cooker to prepare.

Step 4. Once your rice is cooked, let it sit for about 10-20 minutes to solidify.

Step 5. As you let your rice solidify, put a pot of water to boil. does not have to be too much, possible around 1/3 of your pot. Once it's bubbling, lower it to medium-low heat.

Step 6. After all is prepared, put about 5-10 scoops of rice into the boiling pot. Make sure that it's about a 1:2 portion of water to rice.

Step 7. Allow the rice to sit in the boiling water for about 10-20 minutes. Major indicators that show it's ready is that the rice opens up more and will soften a lot more.