おいしいお米作るぞ！

「りえこおばさんのりかくらぶ」が始まりました。今回は丁度稲の苗が育っているということで、まず初回は「ペットボトルでイネを育てよう！」でした。ごはんは何？とかお茶碗一杯は何粒？とか生活の中で、普段は気がつかないことをいろいろ考えたり教わったり。

お米のことや、稲、田んぼのことをクイズ形式で話したあとはいよいよ田植え。合鴨農法で農薬を一切使っていない、泥臭い田んぼの土とホームセンターで購入した土と両者比較のために使ってみます。

そしてなんと農文協の農業雑誌『のらのら』誌上で開催される「バケツ選手権」のペットボトルの部にエントリーすることになりました。

お母さんたちも興味津々で、たくさん質問し、ふむふむと聞いていました。りえこさんのことは敢えて先生と呼ばずにいこうと思っています。彼女には大変失礼なのですが、同じ目線で大人と一緒に体験していくということを大事にしてみようかとちょっとこだわってみています。いろんな大人が子どもの周りに増えていくとこどもは豊かになるなぁと思うのです。

そして最後にりえこおばさんより、玄米とチンゲンサイのお土産を頂きましたので、我が家は早速油炒めにして頂きました。定期的にゆるーく「りかくらぶ」開催していきます。

Dispatches from Kuala Lumpur 3

Dinner is waiting

KL is supposedly a foodie's heaven, but a foodie my 7-year-old daughter is not.
There are lots of different kinds of food here since there are lots of different kinds of people here: Chinese, Indian, Malay, and a fusion of all three. The one thing almost all the food here has in common is spiciness, which, again, for a 7-year-old can be a problem. In one Chinese restaurant we went to we ended up having to swap dishes because the mango chicken she ordered also had a chili sauce. I do think over the past week and a half she's gotten a little more used to some spiciness.

"not too spicy"

Another difference in food culture is of course utensils. And all three different cuisines here highlight that. I ate this Indian meal with my hands, including the rice not pictured:

"You're eating like a baby!"

Chinese food gets chopsticks:

And Malay food just gets eaten with a spoon and fork, often used at the same time.

Another jarring difference is the places meals are prepared and eaten.  Most people, especially the natives outside of the center of the city, tend to eat outside of the restaurant proper using the tables and chairs set up where ever theres space. The photo above is of tables and chairs set up in the street.

This place is just some side street behind a street market. Not pictured are the dishwashers in the street using the road as their workplace, too.

"What food license?"

This kitchen is in the middle of the sidewalk

This stall is on the stairway to the train station.

If it all gets to be too much, which happens for my daughter, there is also Western food around. 

"Can't I eat the french fries first, then have the salad?"

Food at a Western restaurant is more expensive than native food, but it's still not as expensive as Japan. We ordered an XL pizza for the equivalent of 1200 yen. And for an American like me, KL has more authentic American food than Japan does, so I sometimes don't even want to eat Malaysian/Chinese/Indian. 

Here are a couple more pictures. See you next time.

Have a seat.

Chop it. Drink it. Chuck it.