Who knew growing rice on a mountain could be so beautiful? The Ailao Mountains in Yunnan, China, have been carved into thousands of gradual steps, each a paddy growing red rice. The rice terraces stretch out over some 400 square miles of mountains and valleys.
     |
I live in a country where rice is a staple in almost all of our meals. However, in many other countries, rice is just a side dish that’s prepared once every few months.
Cooking rice is like boiling water for most of us; but if you don’t have the time to figure out how to cook rice, then these Rice Packs are definitely what you need.
These convenient packs of rice that aren’t just for storing specific servings of rice (they’re conceptualized in one and two-serving packs.) The packs have holes near the top where you can pour excess water out after rinsing the rice.
You’re then supposed to fill the bag up with water again, up to the indicated line, before dumping everything into the rice cooker. That way, you’ll get perfectly-cooked rice that’s not too mushy and not too hard.
The Rice Pack was a a 2012 red dot award: design concept winning entry. It was designed by Park Kyungran, Kim Miyeon, and Gho Hyejin.
[via Yanko Design]
And this single image, my friends, is why I love Japan…
What you’re looking at here is the latest food innovation since the potato chip picker-upper. The Smart Han comes from Japan’s Takara Tomy, and provides you with a whole new way to look at food – by putting an entire meal in a tube! Or as they like to call it “Rice & Material!” And yes, they even make Doreamon and Hello Kitty versions!
That’s right, just fill up this ingenious gadget with rice and any food material you want, snap it together, and come lunch time, you can squeeze your lunch into your mouth. Extra win! Just look at all the places you can eat your lunch that you never thought of!…
And in case you can’t figure out what sort of foods you’d like to turn into a Push-Up pop, they’ve provided an array of suggestions up on their website. Me, I’d like to fill it with lime Jell-o. Or maybe chocolate pudding.
It might take some work to find these here in the states, but I’m sure that someone like the Japan Trend Shop or White Rabbit Express can help you out if you’re in the mood for some totally tubular food.
This is the era of smart devices – now here’s a smart device for eating. This is the Japanese bento box as a mobile, convenient and functional “SMART” rice delivery mechanism… Screw-up Storage!
If you are too busy to eat enough every day, “Smart Han” by Takara Tomy Arts can help. “Han” means rice or meal in Japanese… this is a lunch box shaped like a stick that you can stuff rice and other food in. Close the lid, then screw-up the rice out …
Taking some inspiration from the sucker-in-a-sleeve known as a Push Pop, Takara Tomy’s Smart Han bento lunchbox lets busy office drones enjoy sticky rice lunch extruded from a large tube. It’s not unlike the Sushi Bazooka, except that this contraption is designed to pump the food directly into your mouth. More »
50 years ago today, on September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered one of his best and most inspiring speeches. Arguably, one of the best in the history of the United States. More »
Every time I go to a Japanese restaurant, I stare in awe at the knife and food assembly skills of the sushi chefs. I can’t imagine making such perfect sushi myself, unless I could afford a sushi robot of my own. But with this gadget, I might be able to at least approximate decent looking sushi.
The Sushi Bazooka is a special extrusion sleeve that you load sushi ingredients into. Just layer in your rice, veggies and fish, snap it together and squeeze. Out squirts a perfectly round sushi roll ready to be wrapped in seaweed and sliced. It’s like one of those old Play-Doh Fun Factory machines, but with fish and rice instead!
While it does help you produce a perfect looking sushi roll, it won’t do anything ensure that you don’t kill your dinner guests with raw fish bacteria, so be sure to stick with fresh ingredients, and wash this thing thoroughly between uses. If you fancy yourself a homestyle sushi chef, you can grab the Sushi Bazooka over at Strapya World for about $25 (USD).
[via Design You Trust]
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
