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When a plate of plain rice went viral: The tweet that started it all
When entrepreneur Ali Qasim posted asking what people liked best with their rice, he wasn’t expecting the gush of responses, or the fact that they came from all around the world.
On the internet, the spotlight often turns on without warning. For entrepreneur Ali Qasim, this happened one August afternoon when he was idly scrolling through Facebook and came upon a photograph of plain, cooked rice. “Like every desi person, I love dal chawal. So I thought, ‘Let’s ask people on Twitter what they would prefer with a simple plate of rice’.”
His tweet (@aliqasim) was simple too: That photo, with the words, ‘You can only add 2 things to this plate of simple rice - Name them’. Users from across the subcontinent chimed in with familiar combinations: dal and pickle, curry and fish, ghee and sugar. Then things started to explode. “It became so huge that I started to see recipes from all over the world,” Qasim says.
Americans picked smothered okra and Louisiana hot sauce. Cubans picked beef and vegetables, for their national dish ropa vieja. Asians overwhelmingly picked crispy duck with sweet-and-sour sauce. But users also liked rice with pickled plums and sesame seeds; mashed potatoes and boiled eggs; eggs and a burger patty (a Hawaiian favourite); grilled shrimp and asparagus; and the Persian koobideh (or kebabs) and Shirazi salad. “I was shocked to see how many preferred just ketchup,” Qasim says. One user @AgBioWorld even suggested fortifying it with phytoene synthase and phytoene desaturase to get rice grains to produce beta-carotene, the precursor to Vitamin A — apparently good for the eyes!
Qasim’s post has been quote-tweeted 92,000 times, and the replies number more than 17,000. “I had no idea it would become this huge, but I’ve loved the response and recipes from all over the world,” he says. Users have bookmarked the page for lockdown recipe ideas. Many turn to it just to see how differently the world views their simple staple. Going viral, Qasim says, helped him view food as a way to experience a distant culture and “unite the world”.
What’s on his rice plate? Dal and kebabs.
Gold plated: How expensive can rice get?
One of the most sought-after varieties of rice in the world, comes from the unlikely location of Saudi Arabia. In the Al-Ahsa Oasis in the arid country’s Eastern Province, underground aquifers and springs allow date palms and agriculture to flourish.
A small group of farmers have been growing rice here for generations – chanting prayers in the fields and squeezing the most use from every drop of water, through the long growing season. The land yields hassawi rice, a red variety that is eaten whole, husk and all.
It’s more a remedy than a meal – hassawi is prescribed to new mothers, those with arthritis or broken bones, and convalescents. Expect to pay upwards of ₹1,500 per kilo.
To truly break the bank, you have to head to Japan. In 2016, the Toyo Rice Corporation set a Guinness World Record by selling a variety of rice for $109 ( ₹8,022) per kilo. Under its Kinmemai Premium brand, Toyo matures local high-quality rice for six months using a proprietary method that gently buffs each grain and enhances its texture and flavour.
The rice, when it’s ready, needs no rinsing. But this isn’t your everyday accompaniment to dal or curry. Kinmemai is sold in 140-gm sachets, for sushi or special meals in a bowl. Food critics describe the taste as being creamier than regular sushi rice, with a slightly nutty flavour.
