Rice in airline food

[Mukund]

I was confused by some Japanese that I found on a menu when flying with JAL between Europe and Japan. The English simply commented about drinking and driving, and how you should take care not to drink too much on the flight, if you plan to drive afterwards. The Japanese said the same things, but then said something additional, not translated into English:
機内食のお米に関にする情報は、弊社ホームページでご覧いただけます。
This means something like "For more information on the rice in the meals on-board, please visit our company homepage"
The JAL website does indeed tell me that the rice on my flight could be domestic or foreign. Is this considered important by some/most/any Japanese travellers? I am curious about who this information is aimed at.

Thanks for any insight you can offer! Mukund

 

[SumoFit]

I was confused by some Japanese that I found on a menu when flying with JAL between Europe and Japan. The English simply commented about drinking and driving, and how you should take care not to drink too much on the flight, if you plan to drive afterwards. The Japanese said the same things, but then said something additional, not translated into English:
機内食のお米に関にする情報は、弊社ホームページでご覧いただけます。
This means something like "For more information on the rice in the meals on-board, please visit our company homepage"
The JAL website does indeed tell me that the rice on my flight could be domestic or foreign. Is this considered important by some/most/any Japanese travellers? I am curious about who this information is aimed at.

Thanks for any insight you can offer! Mukund

Interesting, I would love to know the answer to this, too. I wonder if it has anything to do with arsenic levels in the rice, which vary from country to country. Rice grown in the US has been found to have higher levels of inorganic (carcinogenic) arsenic than rice from Thailand (organic doesn't necessarily mean lower levels). Brown rice contains more, because arsenic settles in the outer hull, the bit that's removed to make white rice. The main issue is with the type of fertiliser used. Chicken manure can have high levels of inorganic arsenic if the chickens have been treated with the arsenic-based drug Roxarsone. If you make rice at home, you should wash it thoroughly; if I remember correctly, In Japan they give the rice seven rinses.

 

[Majestic]

I don't think it has anything to do with arsenic. It's a marketing tool aimed at the domestic market. The higher classes of service use Japanese rice (koshihikari) in their meals. Koshihikari is a type of Japonica rice that is thought to be superior to other types. Premium economy and economy meals have no such claim, so presumably they use inferior/cheaper rice.

 

[SumoFit]

I don't think it has anything to do with arsenic. It's a marketing tool aimed at the domestic market. The higher classes of service use Japanese rice (koshihikari) in their meals. Koshihikari is a type of Japonica rice that is thought to be superior to other types. Premium economy and economy meals have no such claim, so presumably they use inferior/cheaper rice.

Thanks! How popular are Basmati and Jasmine in Japan?

 

[Toritoribe]

Almost all Japanese people have never heard those names. Indica rice is scarcely eaten as staple diet in Japan.

 

[SumoFit]

Almost all Japanese people have never heard those names. Indica rice is scarcely eaten as staple diet in Japan.

That's interesting. Are Indian or Middle Eastern cuisines at all popular?

 

[Toritoribe]

Curry rice is one of the most popular cuisine in Japan, but Japonica rice is used for the dish.

 

[Mukund]

Premium economy and economy meals have no such claim, so presumably they use inferior/cheaper rice.

I actually travelled premium economy on this occasion, so I guess even the "lower" classes care about the origin of their rice. Thanks all for your replies!

 

[SumoFit]

Curry rice is one of the most popular cuisine in Japan, but Japonica rice is used for the dish.

Japanese-style curry is delicious, but very different from Indian-style curry. I prefer the Japanese style, as that is how my Mum makes it. Does anyone know where the Japanese got this kind of curry? From British expats, perhaps?

 

[nekojita]

I have heard that it was based off a British Navy interpretation of the dish (and once saw a great video of the Japanese Navy making up their version - maybe this one).

Would explain the carrots, certainly. I like all the forms of curry, though - including that old British favourite, boxing day turkey curry.

 

[Dotanbatan]

I have heard that it was based off a British Navy interpretation of the dish (and once saw a great video of the Japanese Navy making up their version - maybe this one).

Would explain the carrots, certainly. I like all the forms of curry, though - including that old British favourite, boxing day turkey curry.

UK Boxing Day = Bubble and squeak for breakfast, turkey curry for lunch, turkey sandwiches for dinner..... then millions of people going to bed not wanting to see turkey again for another 12 months!!

 

[Dotanbatan]

Curry rice is one of the most popular cuisine in Japan, but Japonica rice is used for the dish.

Looks delicious Toritoribe .... but a small serving !
Is this an example of this mystical Japanese concept called `Hara hachi bun me`?

 

[SumoFit]

I have heard that it was based off a British Navy interpretation of the dish (and once saw a great video of the Japanese Navy making up their version - maybe this one).

Would explain the carrots, certainly. I like all the forms of curry, though - including that old British favourite, boxing day turkey curry.

Ooooooh, that looks delicious! Thanks for the video.

 

[fazlur]

Curry rice is one of the most popular cuisine in Japan, but Japonica rice is used for the dish.

like another asian country, rice is first choice on meal table...

 

[Toritoribe]

Looks delicious Toritoribe .... but a small serving !
Is this an example of this mystical Japanese concept called `Hara hachi bun me`?

I took the picture from google image search. Maybe it's for a child, judging from the pattern of the plate.

 

[nekojita]

I don't know if I should spam up this thread with more youtube links, but there's a show in which ギャル曽根 (a bizarrely tiny competitive eater) eats a plate of curry from every prefecture and ranks them. It is strangely hypnotising.

 

[Toritoribe]

An entertainer 石塚英彦, who is well known as a big eater, once said カレーは飲み物だ "Curry rice is a drink."

 

[nekojita]

飲み物って…カレーラムネのことですか？
(There is such a thing as curry-flavoured ramune. I have not tried it, nor do I intend to do so).

Soup curries are great, though, so I can emphasise with the sentiment. (Now I want curry laksa).

 

[Toritoribe]

He ate a curry rice, not a soup curry but an ordinary one, very fast without a lot of chewing (as if it were a drink), and said カレーは飲み物だ (more accurately, カレーって飲み物だよね？ "Curry rice is a drink, don't you think so?") in a TV show.