The broken rice narrative is one about survival, nourishment and colonization for West African and Vietnamese lives.
SEP. 30, 2021Words by CHRISTINE TRAN
Growing up, I learned to value each grain of rice. Rice was a main food item my Vietnamese refugee family turned to for both nutrition and comfort. After my parents’ long day of laboring in garment factories or in the hot sun of construction sites, the ritual of a warm, fresh bowl of rice was something my family and I enjoyed together. My sister and I would set our coffee table with newspaper, a tablecloth proxy. We each got a warm bowl of rice with a set of wooden chopsticks. Our rice would always be paired with a vegetable stir fry (cải xào), braised meat (thịt kho), or a hearty soup like stuffed bittermelon (canh khổ qua). And we ate as a family while watching the daily evening lineup of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.