Brown Rice

I had brown rice for the first time in over a year tonight. It was amazing. Everything about it tasted so good.

Ever since I began focusing my research on rice (over 2 years ago), I've tasted a lot of different rice. Sometimes I prefer good, fragrant white rice. Other times I prefer good, nutty-flavored, healthy brown rice that I ate before starting this research. In China, white rice is the only option.

Except when you go on a quick trip in the rice displays in a Shanghai supermarket. And before your eyes rests a bag of organic brown rice. And all of a sudden nothing in the world sounds better. So you buy a small bag and bring it back to Harbin with you. And cook it in your rice maker. And eat it after you spend a long Monday writing and swimming.

I know people in Harbin who spend 4 months of the year in Hainan island in southern China who make sure to pack a big 50 pound bag of northeast rice with them for the winter so they don't have to eat that 'bad southern rice.' I have access and connections to the 'best' rice grown in China. But all of that rice is white. And my own cultural background has taught me that white rice is bad, brown rice is good. I've looked past that white/brown dichotomy to do this research and to understand what makes rice 'good' to Chinese people who dismissed brown rice long ago. Brown rice never comes up. I almost forgot it existed until I saw it there in Shanghai, labeled in English, probably for all the Shanghai ex-pats.

3:43 am

Happy Summer Solstice! Just want to point out that this morning the sun rose here at 3:43 am. At its peak, Harbin gets 15 hours and 43 minutes (plus 13 seconds) of sunlight. The long days of sunshine and the contrast in temperature between night and day are two reasons people often give me for why the environment here is conducive to growing high quality rice.

In the countryside, most people are up and moving by 4 or 4:30 in the summers. By then it is bright outside. The sun does set early (@ 7:30) so the reason for the early sunrise is both a matter of being east (thanks to China's one country, one time zone policy) as well as north. [On a side note, when I was in Kashgar last month, the sun did not set until after 10 pm.]

In the city, I think people do not tend to get up with the sunrise as much as in the country. But as I've learned from my morning market trips and morning runs, quite a few middle aged and older people tend to be up and out by 6 am to get to the markets early.

Representing Dongbei Cai (Northeast food)

It was a cold and rainy morning in Harbin today. I mean like downpour rain where there was really nothing productive to accomplish outside. So I grabbed a list an acquaintance had given me of the most authentic dongbei (northeast) restaurants. I wanted to go visit the restaurants in Harbin that prided themselves on having the most traditional northeast food in the city. My acquaintance is part of what I would call a very well-off Harbin family and I trusted that she would know some of the best restaurants.

In my recent conversations with farmers, the most interesting discussions have been about what they eat, rather than what they grow. Either I need to do some more digging to find more interesting questions to ask about production or I have to accept that much of my project is going to be about consumption rather than production. Anyway, what I find interesting is how simple they all claim dongbei food is. While there is certainly an art to cooking and presentation, dongbei does not have the same reputation as other regions of Chinese cuisine. Because of these conversations, I wanted to see how people in the city-which is easily and constantly influenced by new trends-present dongbei food.

The first restaurant I visited was a surprise upon entry. I really had no idea what to expect. I walked in to be greeted by 5 servers standing at the door dressed in Mao uniforms. In front of me was a large picture of Mao Zedong. I had walked into a Cultural Revolution-themed restaurant! I had heard of these existing in Beijing; here it is in Harbin! I sat down with the boss and she showed me the menu and explained each dish to me. The themes were the same that I have seen in Harbin and in the countryside: hardy, big chunks of meat, corn, eggplant, potatoes, and carrots alongside fresh leafy lettuce, garlic, and onion.

When we got to the back of the menu with the staple foods (rice, corn, noodles, etc.), I began to ask about Harbin trends for consuming staple foods. The boss got up and showed me a framed picture of old grain tickets that had been used during the Cultural Revolution. We talked about the differences in food preparation and consumption between then and now, this restaurant, and current Harbin eating trends. She took me on a tour of the restaurant, which had plenty of references to the countryside. The was a replica corn barn holding old, dried cobs of corn, a well, wood decor, fake grapes hanging from vines overhead, and pictures of Cultural Revolution leaders working in the fields. Rooms off to the side (for private parties) had tables on a lifted floor, like many of the houses in the dongbei countryside. Old newspapers from the late 1960s were posted on the walls of these rooms. The boss pointed out to me that now many of these rooms (in contemporary restaurants) have televisions, but they chose to put newspapers on the wall.

It was a fascinating visit, and a place I am sure I will go back to with friends. The other restaurants on the list were nice, fancy, non-themed restaurants. Now I need to talk to my friend again to ask her why this particular Cultural Revolution-themed restaurant made it on her list of 'authentic' dongbei restaurants.