More than anything else, rice is the iconic symbol of Vietnamese culture because it plays a prominent role within the country. As a result, rice is found in most dishes making it the staple food of Vietnam. In addition, not only is rice is deeply rooted into the foundation of Vietnamese cuisine, but of its culture as well. Throughout this paper, I will describe the role that rice plays in my cultural background and the he way it is viewed within Vietnamese culture.
According to Vietnamese tradition, rice grains are versatile and nothing is wasted when it comes to rice processing. For example, rice can be steamed and eaten as is or used to make rice paper, pudding, paste, noodles, and many other delicacies. Within Vietnamese culture, rice is
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The biggest adjustment to life here in America for my family was not being able to eat the foods that they did back in their homeland. My mother often expressed her difficulty in finding the right ingredients to make our Vietnamese dishes by describing how the recipe would need to be modified in order to make up for the missing ingredients. Fortunately, the one thing that could not be absent from our meal was rice. Growing up, my family was very poor; as a result, a small bowl of steamed rice was the only thing that I had to eat. Despite this, I have grown quite fond and used to the “unfortunate event” because even as an adult today, I sometimes find myself only eating rice as my main meal by choice. Nowadays, I see this part of my childhood it as a source of comfort rather than a setback because I realized that I was fortunate enough to have something to eat. Furthermore, rice was also the very first thing I learned to cook. One of my happiest childhood memories was of my mother teaching me how to wash the rice. She taught me how many swishes and drains the rice needed to be cleaned and how to measure the water correctly with my finger to ensure that the rice was moist and fluffy. These memories are extremely important to who I am as a person today because growing up in a traditional Vietnamese house-hold my family did not bond the way most American families did, rather, our only form of bonding was done through cooking and eating together. For this reason, this tradition is something that I have passed onto my daughter now that I'm older with the hopes that she will do the same for her