Essay

Sweet or savory?

By Tan Ying Zhen

Is plain white rice sweet or savory?

This random question sparked a war of words between my Kiwi friend and me. We usually see eye to eye on most things and I did not expect this question to lead to one of our most animated debates ever.

"Rice is sweet," I said.

"Sweet? It's savory."

"Savory? It's sweet!"

"But you eat it with savory foods like curry. Besides, you have it for lunch and dinner!"

"Curry is savory, but if you are eating just plain white rice, the rice itself is sweet!"

A random straw poll of our Japanese colleagues revealed that "sweet" was the unanimous view. My friend suggested asking more people from different countries so we posted the question on Facebook. Interestingly, most people from Western countries answered, "savory." A few replied, "Rice is bland." Most Asians said, "sweet."

Someone pointed out that there are different varieties of rice and suggested that Japanese rice might taste sweeter than basmati or Thai rice. Another friend approached the question from a scientific perspective. She explained that rice was sweet because chewing transforms carbohydrates into sugar.

A unique answer came from a Singaporean friend who had interacted with many Southeast-Asian students while working in Japan. He said, "It depends on the type of cuisine people are used to. In Japan, most people probably think of rice as sweet, especially if you think about rice wine and mirin. In Thailand, people have mango with sticky rice as a dessert. So when they eat plain white rice, it probably seems savory to them."

I decided to consult the Internet. I typed "Is rice sweet or savory?" into Google's search bar. As proof of my inadequate Google-fu, the top 10 results were all for "sweet and savory rice recipes." Or perhaps this was evidence that the question was really quite pointless.

"It's not pointless," a friend said. "I think your answer reveals a lot about your cultural background and food traditions."

If we look at the Japanese language, I suppose we can see how important rice is in Japan. The words for lunch and dinner both contain the kanji for cooked rice.

The Chinese language also equates eating with eating rice. For example, when we want to ask in Chinese if someone has eaten, we say, "Have you eaten rice?" We are not really asking if someone has eaten rice, but if they have eaten lunch or dinner.

An interesting Chinese phrase that includes the kanji for cooked rice is, which means to start eating. A literal English translation of this phrase is to "open rice." It probably makes no sense if you don't understand Chinese, but OpenRice.com is a popular online food and restaurant guide that originated in Hong Kong.

So, the next time you "open rice," ask your companions if they find rice sweet or savory. Perhaps their answer will help you to understand them more than before.

甘いか辛いか

普通の白いお米は甘いか辛いか — 筆者はニュージーランド人の友人とこんな話題で議論が白熱したという。その後、周囲の人に意見を聞いたり、ネットで調べてみたが、その結果は —？

The Japan Times ST: July 5, 2013