North Koreans have recently received the long-grain rice the country imported in large quantities late last year, Daily NK has learned.
However, some North Koreans have sold their long-grain rice in local markets to buy other kinds of rice, complaining that they dislike how the long-grain variety tastes.
A source in North Hwanghae Province said Thursday that to mark the Lunar New Year, grain shops in Sariwon sold mixed grains and white rice on a eight-to-two ration for half the price of markets.
“Families of three received 10 kilograms, but they received rice that looked like long-grain rice,” he said.
Voice of America reported in late January that North Korea imported large quantities of long-grain rice from China from October to December of last year.
The authorities appear to have provided the rice to people at the start of the year to soothe public discontent.
However, public reaction to the long-grain rice has been less-than-enthusiastic.
The source said Vietnamese rice flies off when you blow on it and needs to be eaten hot.
“It crumbles if it cools just a little, so it feels like your chewing sand, and it doesn’t stick together in either soup or mixed grains,” he said.
“When you make porridge, it’s better to use unglutinous rice, corn flour or corn mixed with rice.”
The source said the first rice he ate during the Arduous March era was Vietnamese rice.
“Many people complained how they received that sort of rice after helping the agricultural villages like it was a national uprising, and asked why they were being made to eat rice they ate during the Arduous March of the 1990s when [the authorities] said agriculture turned out fine [this year],” he said.
SELLING UNWANTED RICE INTO THE MARKETS
Some people have responded by selling the rice they received on the market to buy glutinous rice.
The source said while well-off people are trying to buy good rice, people unable to purchase the good rice are keeping their long-grain rice, making due on two meals a day.
“Some people say even if it’s unglutinous rice, if they give you a lot and it fills you up, they can’t ask for anything more,” he said.
In other regions, cadres reportedly received the long-grain rice.
A source in North Hamgyong Province said cadres, legal officers and military families received Vietnamese rice on Lunar New Year.
“They received between seven to 10 kilograms, depending on the agency,” he said.
Ordinary people received nothing, while food-poor households struggling the most received three kilograms of “long white rice,” with elderly households getting priority.
“Long white rice” appears to mean a long, thin kind of long-grain rice.
This means that while everyone is struggling with economic problems, the really vulnerable — the elderly — received long-grain rice.
“People who got the rice are happy, saying it’s better than nothing, given that people aren’t doing well enough to be picky,” said the source.
“Some people are dumping their long-grain rice on the market to buy unglutinous rice, perhaps because they think it’s much better to eat rice mixed with corn, while others are keeping it and mixing it with unglutinous rice,” he added.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
