As someone who lives alone and only has to cook for himself, I have no problems spending more for the good stuff when it comes to groceries. Milk from organically grass-fed cows. Eggs from free-ranging, organically-fed chickens. Kimchi imported from South Korea (available at Costco, surprisingly). My philosophy is: we’re eating to keep alive, so it makes sense to put the best in our body.
Obviously it’s a different calculation if I had a family to feed. Then it’s five dozen super non-organic eggs for five dollars at Costco. The free-range stuff I mentioned earlier? Five dollars can’t even pay for the single dozen.
Anyways, I eat rice for dinner almost everyday. My favorite kind is Japanese short-grain: fluffy, moist, and a distinctive taste. Recently I decided to go big and buy Japanese rice that’s produced in Japan. Most of the stuff available at supermarkets is actually grown right here in California. Those suffice just fine, but surely Japanese soil, sun, and water make even better rice. You certainly have to pay for that privilege: my 11-pound bag was nearly $40!
Again, I wouldn’t do this if I had more than me to feed!
As suspected, the made in Japan rice has a distinct flavor that is absent from the California-grown. I could eat just the rice with some roasted seaweed and nothing else. The rice is the star of the show, rather than something you must pair with another dish to eat. If you’re a rice enthusiast like me, then I highly recommend you try a bag of imported Japanese short-grain. Get it at your local Asian supermarket.
Raw salmon pairs well with Japanese short-grain.