Move over popcorn, here comes poprice (video)

With its fertile Mekong Delta in the south and picturesque terraces in the north, Vietnam is one of Asean’s leading exporters of rice. It is also an avid consumer of the white grain, with the country’s population estimated to have eaten some 22.7 million tons of rice last year. While traditional methods such as steamed, boiled, and even fried rice are common cooking methods, tourists are finding out that there are more ways than that to eat the Asean staple.

In the video above a group of tourists in Cai Be Province in southern Vietnam are introduced to poprice, a worthy challenger to the popcorn consumed by the bucket full at Western cinemas.

Simply take one large work and place it over a roaring fire. Add some black Mekhong River sand and a little coconut oil until it is nice and hot, and then throw in a bowl of unmilled rice paddy and stir with a large spatula.

Within seconds tiny grains of poprice begin exploding out of the wok like a mini fireworks display, before the black sand disappears below a sea of white poprice. Quickly scoop the contents out of the wok and throw it through a sieve a couple of times to remove the sand and any left over rice husks and get ready to sit down and watch your favorite movie. Simple, no?

In addition to poprice, other Vietnamese uses for the grain which some 3.5 billion people worldwide depend on for more than 20 per cent of their daily calorific intake include puffed rice, which similarly to poprice is consumed as a snack product, and rice wine made from fermenting the grain.

Feature video Tung Thanh Ly

Pop Rice Vietnamese Style (Mondo Memento)
Pop rice, rice film and rice husk! (Waste Biorefinery)
Homemade Vietnamese Sweet, Spicy & Savory Crispy Rice Cracker – Cơm Cháy Chiên Giòn (Simply a Blog)

Move over popcorn, here comes poprice (video) added by Leakhena Khat on August 14, 2017
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Leakhena Khat

Leakhena is a junior journalist at AEC News Today who is also currently studying International Relations, which she finds adds perspective to her work reporting on the Asean Community.

“I love what I am doing so much as it gives me a lot of great experience and provides challenges to my mind.