>  CS> Thats exactly it.  The nutty taste.  Just doesnt appeal to us much.
 > 
 > Ah.  Completely plain... well, we rarely have any rice that... :)  It's
 > always been with something or in something... and I always used to make
 > it, even for being the "starch" of the meal, with butter
and bouillon,
 > so it wasn't completely plain even then... but then, I also wasn't
 > making anything that would serve as a gravy or au jus to put on it
 > either, just having it beside the meat and the veggie(s).  Growing up,
 > it was white rice, boiled and drained, and then usually had some sort of
 > gravy or sauce for it from the meat (eg chicken cooked in some cream
 > soup).

Just plain suits us well with a little butter, salt, and black pepper.  Thats
the normal pot here.  I skip the butter when taking it to work and just eat
it as is, or warm it in the microwave a bit.

 >  >  >  CS> I also have some sushi rice type here.  Been meaning
 >  >  CS> Oh it's not hard to get the fillings together.  So many
variations!
 >  >  CS> A few strips of carrot, celery, acocado, daikon, and
some fish type
 >  >  CS> suitable for it (I like the sashimi sushis).
 >  > That sounds tasty... :)   So, what are you missing, the seaweed sheets?
 > 
 >  CS> Time mostly!
 > 
 > Oh, that's in short supply here, too.  

Sure, but got the day off and may get to it today.  Have to soak some sweet
beans first.  Thats one of the things I might get in a can sometimes as we
use them only in small amounts.  Azuki.  (When they say it in Sasebo, sounds
like a 'd' is in there which is why I so often spell it adzuki).

 
 >  CS> Got a little rice ball mix a few days ago along with some sushi
 >  CS> vinegar (didnt have any and prefer a pre-mix as to making my own).
 >  CS> Might do the rice balls instead with some of the adzuki beans or some
 >  CS> sweet black beans.  Though not a true confection, it is a sweet that
 >  CS> way. xxcarol

See, did it there too ;-)
 
 > Japan has some interesting "sweets"...  I remember one from
my Japanese
 > friends in high school that was a very salty treat.  I remember even
 > more vividly the twinkle in Cal's eye as he handed it to us, expecting a
 > more typical "American" reaction...  ;)  But the rice and sweet beans

I can picture it!  The tip is that if it seems to have little green bits,
(nori likely) then it's probabl a salty one.  Some are both at the same time
with seems strange to us, but you get used to it and it's good.

 > would be definitely more a sweet treat.  :)  I've quite fallen for Red
 > Bean Paste and for Lotus Bean Paste... whether in a bun or even by
 > itself...  :)  (Yes, I know those are more Chinese, dimsum-y, than
 > Japanese... but also not syrupy sweet like most of what we'd designate
 > as candy or sweets.)

True.  Most of their 'sweets' are not quite the sugar laden levels we
europeans eat.  *some* are, but generally they arent.

Thats where I learned to carmelize an onion properly so it really adds
sweetness to a dish.

            xxcarol
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