The unsung hero
Originally published in the March-April 2020 edition of Bangkok 101 Magazine
The three of them lie side by side, beneath the dim light of a flickering bulb, somewhere in Bangkok. Each has journeyed hundreds of miles to be here, from distant provinces across the country. The smallest has a petite, but round, figure, with a firm, pearly white complexion; the middle one is tall, slender and tan; the largest, thick and heavyset, with unevenly dark skin.
The unsteady illumination issues forth from the table lamp in my Sukhumvit home – and the subjects of this insomniac examination are individual grains of Thai rice of different types: bue poh loh, a small-grained white rice from the higher altitudes of Chiang Mai; paka umpul, a brown rice indigenous to the northeastern province of Surin; and kam noi, a purple glutinous rice from neighbouring Sakon Nakhon. All share a common ancestor, oryza sativa japonica (said to have been first domesticated in the Yangtze River basin around 9,500 BCE), but – much like wine grapes - each have their own distinct appearances and characters, borne from uniquely different terroirs in the land they now call home.
A few days earlier, I’d met for dinner with Richa Tantisirivat of Hatch Goodies, a purveyor of specialty Thai rices (and benefactor of my box of rice treats). In between our comparisons of the carnaroli rice grains in our risotto with bue poh loh, she shared with me that it’s this rich diversity of Thai rice varieties that she deeply wanted to surface and share with the world – and not least with Thai people themselves.
‘For Thai people, rice is much more than just a staple food; it’s fundamental to our culture,’ she remarked. ‘We eat it up to 3 times daily, and even instinctively greet each other by asking if we’ve eaten rice yet (‘kin khao yang’). And while we Thais love all kinds of food, rice reigns supreme; in fact, we have a saying that ‘if the rice isn’t delicious, even the tastiest gab (accompaniment) will fail to satisfy.’ She went on to lament, however, that most know very little about Thailand’s rich rice heritage.
The decline in production – and, therefore, awareness - of heirloom rice varieties is widely attributed to advent of the Green Revolution of the 1950s and 60s – the large increase in crop production in Thailand and other developing countries achieved through the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield crop varieties. Meanwhile, the well-known Jasmine variety is actually a relatively new invention, having only been created in 1959. Thai rice and its cultivation, in fact, dates back to as early as 3,000 BC – and, since then, over 20,000 varieties have been documented in Thailand alone, with around 3,500 being actively grown. Many rely on rapidly decaying local wisdom to cultivate well. Each has its own unique aroma, texture and taste when cooked.
‘Rice is truly the unsung hero of our culture and society – and I want to change that,’ Richa resolved. ‘The best way to preserve heirloom varieties is to grow them - and the best way to ensure they are grown is to eat them,’ she advised. ‘I truly believe that our joy of eating can create real, positive change.’
I, personally, shall be taking her advice imminently.