Rice culture
I'm not a "rice person". Before having Ginger in my life, the only type of rice I kept at home was Italian risotto rice. But since Ginger arrived, I started buying rice. Pet food is not cheap here, so I mix rice with her tin food for dinner. During the day, she gets dry food.
The locals here are mostly Indian, and they prefer basmati rice. I personally prefer Thai jasmine rice. Since I might eat some of it too, I bought jasmine rice instead.
Learning from my cousin here, they cook rice in a saucepan with more than enough water. Once the rice is cooked, they drain the water away. In most parts of Asia, we cook rice in a rice cooker with the same amount of water — we never drain it. If we add more water, that usually means we’re making congee. I'm not sure if the concept of “rice congee” exists here, because in the West, “congee” often refers to porridge made with oats, milk, and yoghurt.
When we (Chinese) have leftover rice from the night before, we either make fried rice or congee. Congee is a traditional Chinese breakfast — plain congee with fried dough 白粥油炸鬼, or century egg with lean pork congee 皮蛋瘦肉粥. My favourite has always been Sampan congee 艇仔粥, with carp slices, lean pork, squid, pork tripe, and soaked fried pigskin.