FRAGRANT COCONUT RICE

Canada is a major producer, exporter and importer of an immense variety of agricultural and food products ranging from processed foods with global value chains to local, farm-based value chains. In this section, I share 3 of my research insights and assess to what extent my recipe can be made from Canadian agricultural and food products.

If the jasmine rice you purchase to make this recipe happens to be from the 68th world producer of rice, it was mostly likely grown in Kedah – the “Rice Bowl of Malaysia”. Here, women plant rice seedlings by hand and water buffalo are used to plow rice paddies. However, the rice you bought most likely came from mainland China.

Before harvested rice can be shipped, the tough husk surrounding the grain is always removed; the bran and germ is also often removed, leaving the starchy endosperm we know as white rice. However, if the bran is left intact, rice grains will be brown, reddish, or black. This is whole grain rice, which is higher in vitamins, minerals, oils, and a variety of phytonutrients.

Almost all ingredients of this recipe can be bought at a local grocery store, except for the pandan leaf. However, this is not a major issue for most Canadians, as anyone with Internet access can order this product from EBay.ca for less than $5. Although, it should be noted that preparing this recipe does require some advanced planning, given that it takes roughly 2 weeks for this ingredient to be delivered from distributors.

In summary, 2 of the 6 ingredients I needed are produced in Canada, while the other 4 can be purchased without much difficulty. One ingredient, a fresh pandan leaf, was not available and required me to substitute it for dried pandan leaves.