Became rice in the staple food

Hello, everyone. Today, I will talk about good points of rice. Rice is one of the Japanese staple-food because rice has a lot of good points. Japanese like rice.

First, rice contains a lot of nutrition. Most of the nutrition is carbohydrates and protein. We become stronger when we eat rice. For example, the movement of the body is good and gain strength.

Second, we don`t much fat when eat rice. Rice contains a lot of dietary fiber and moisture. And rice is large grain. Eating slowly is good for our body. Eating rice is great for dieting.

Rice balls

Third, rice grows in warm places. And we need much water when we grow rice. Environment of Japan is adapted to growing rice. There is warm place and have much water. We can harvest a lot of rice because the environment is suitable.
Fourth, rice is light taste. Japanese like it. They eat rice and side dishes at the same time. Rice is good for Japanese eating habits.

Fifth, crops can be saved for a long time. Rice is can save about one year. People can eat the grain when they cannot harvest. 



Rice is the important thing for Japanese. Now, I will talk about Japanese rice using dishes. First, I`m introduce rice balls. It is one of the very popular foods for Japanese. We often eat it at noon. So we can see it at Japanese supermarkets and convenience stores. It also used the student`s lunch.

Rice balls of  convenience store

In Japan, there are the rice balls when Japanese started to grow rice. People were called “Torinoko” to the rice balls because it is similar to eggs. Torinoko means the eggs. During the Heian era, Japanese ate it during the war. It is easy to make rice balls.

There is a lot of flavor to the rice balls. Japanese put the some fish and pickled plums and kelps in the rice ball. They eat the rice cakes with sweet bean paste and soy flour. History of rice cakes is as long as the history of rice balls. We decorate the rice cake on New Year`s Day. It is said that Japanese God came down to the rice cake. It made from glutinous rice, so it is fluffy and stick.

the rice cake

Next time, I will talk about unusual rice using dishes. See you again!