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Hyphen magazine's blog contains a post which describes a culinary phenomenon known to many people of Asian heritage: a bowl of rice topped with a fried egg and other accoutrements. I grew up eating my rice sprinkled with shoyu (soy sauce)—or sometimes oyster sauce—then topped with a fried egg. You then mash the egg and rice together and dig in. My family would usually eat this for breakfast using room temperature leftover rice (this was in the days before fancy fuzzy logic rice cookers), but it is great any time of day. For me, it is the ultimate comfort food. My way is probably the most basic preparation. You can embellish it any which way. Todd, the post's author, describes his perfect egg/rice bowl as
containing "slabs of fried Spam flared out around the bowl to resemble
petals, and
an over easy egg (or two) jiggling on top, like the capitulum of a
springtime daisy, (and) kimchi riding shotgun." I'm not ashamed to admit that crispy-fried Spam has adorned plenty of my egg/rice bowls. I was born in Hawaii where, for some strange reason, Spam has been the canned meat king since it was introduced to the state during World War II. (Trivia note: Hawaii is the number one Spam-consuming state in the nation.) The egg/rice bowl perhaps has its roots in Japanese donburi or Korean bibim bap, but no matter where it came from, those who have grown up eating it understand why it is so addictive. Eating it is like a little reminder of home in every bite. For me, nothing is more warming or comforting than a bowl steamed rice, a fried egg, and a dash of shoyu. (And perhaps some Sriracha sauce on the side.)
