Food Question - Memories of the Rice Cooker debate!

[Robo]

OK, we finally head off on the CF very soon. Starting out in St Jean on 25th April.

I have managed the CF before on my own and my dearly beloved (Pat) came in 2016 for a 'warm up', from Sarria. That all went quite well, so this year is the big one for her. Well, until we try from Le Puy of course...

Now you may recall the big debate over Rice Cookers that went on for a couple of years, till the Rice Cooker decided to blow up during pre-Camino testing

I rather fear a similar debate may be brewing. This time it;s about sticky Rice and Fried Beef!

So Pat is from Thailand originally and tends to live on a staple of Rice rather than bread and potatoes like most 'Westerners'.
Long story, mini rice cooker, blows up, no longer taking rice cooker, but we will try to order rice when we can.
Any extra portions of Rice we can get, will be toted in a plastic bag for breakfast next day.
Chuck an egg on top or similar and she's 'Happy as Larry'
An energy packed snack for any budding Thai Pilgrim....

Fast forward to today.

We are doing our daily training walk through the 'bush' around a local Lake.
A nice 5km circuit with plenty of ups and downs.

We head out early before I go to work.
I grab a quick bowl of Muesli.
And Pat? Heats up some sticky rice and quickly deep fries some marinated beef.
That gets popped into a bag and she munches it on the trail........

All was going famously this morning.
Pat up front setting the pace.
Me dutifully trailing in the rear.

And then it happens!

"If I could get a breakfast like this on the Camino, I'd have loads of energy for walking"!

My mind goes into overdrive. What! You're kidding........right?
She's not........

I explain that taking a camping stove to deep fry beef in our room will not go down well.........
Let alone the fire risk!

No, No. We are not going there again.
The Rice Cooker died in training....... A camping stove, pan, oil, No way!

So that gets me thinking and steering the conversation around to 'alternatives' that might be readily available.

Beef jerky? "No, too dry and tough" she says heading up the next incline..........
Jeez...........she's serious !

But you like those small Salami things? What about those? "No I'd really like some fried Beef"

So now we finally get to the question.
For the Camino old hands out there.......

And No, it's not......... Should I go alone? or Should I seek a divorce?

It's this........

Imagine yummy marinated deep fried beef..........
What on earth could be purchased in Spain that would be 'remotely' similar?

Packet, dried, smoked, tinned, whatever. But ready to eat.

The answer could save my Camino, and my marriage



Afternote. Don't worry, Pat and I are 'into' the local food in a big way and she eats almost every thing in her path on Camino.
She's not being overly precious.......
I'm just taking it on as a personal challenge to see if I can find something remotely like her breakfast of choice.........
as a big surprise

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Can't help you with any good beef options, but like I've said before, Robo, you are a "gem" and she's lucky to have you for a husband.

 

[scruffy1]

Mini rice cooker? Your are very lucky! About two Caminos ago I met four Koreans, two couples. Alternately, one wife carried a humongous pot lashed to her backback, the other was assigned to find and carry e-v-e-r-y day two chickens or more - early Spring, frozen chichen can keep two days while walking, that is two chickens and more a fist sized bit of ginger, as many hot peppers as they could find, garlic, two-three kilos of rice, every evening one husband boiled two chickens with the vegatables-when cooked removed them and poured in a kilo of rice to the remaining water/stock while later the other made sure his wife properly washed the pot, the dishes, and the metal chop sticks. You both got it easy!

 

[scott the farmer]

I do remember there being some great beef stews in pilgrim menus

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

@Robo, I have two thoughts.

Imagine yummy marinated deep fried beef..........
What on earth could be purchased in Spain that would be 'remotely' similar?

Packet, dried, smoked, tinned, whatever. But ready to eat.

You've got to get Pat addicted to jamon iberico ( easy but expensive down under.)

"If I could get a breakfast like this on the Camino, I'd have loads of energy for walking"!

My mind goes into overdrive. What! You're kidding........right?
She's not........

If that doesn't work then remember, happy wife, happy life.

 

[Robo]

@Robo
You've got to get Pat addicted to jamon iberico ( easy but expensive down under.)

She is. The good stuff!

 

[Nanc]

Robo why not plan for those albergues with kitchens?
Cook up to your heart delight
N

 

[natefaith]

@Robo Rob, just curious - I'm of Taiwanese background and I never had a problem with rice that was in rice cookers all day. Fast forward to now, when if I have rice that's been sitting around too long at room temperature (or too many days in the fridge) I have some unpleasant stomach issues. In the last few years I've read that leftover rice becomes toxic after a couple of days (which I'd never known before!).

It sounds like on the Camino, Pat would probably finish up any leftover rice pretty quickly. BUT do you guys keep it refrigerated, or at room temperature? And has she noticed a threshold where the leftover rice goes bad?

 

[Robo]

Hi Faith,

Interesting question. I generally eat Rice the day it is cooked, but Pat will often have some sticky or normal rice in the Rice cooker for a couple of days that she'll dig into. But usually left over rice goes into the fridge and is eaten within a couple of days.

No issues so far.

On the Camino, if she can' she'll get some rice at dinner and just keep it over night to have for breakfast. Fine cold with some meat or a boiled egg. Might have to take some Fish Sauce

 

[natefaith]

Good info, Rob! Thanks

 

[Robo]

Good info, Rob! Thanks

I should add.............any leftover Rice in the Rice Cooker is getting recooked. On the 'warm up' setting.

 

[Introibo]

Oh Robo! I remember this thread from the first round. The comment that has remained
with me was "You must love your wife more than I love mine".

Buen Camino

 

[VNwalking]

I'm just taking it on as a personal challenge to see if I can find something remotely like her breakfast of choice.........
as a big surprise

I hope she does not read this thread, Rob!
(I'm a vegetarian, so I'm useless in offering any suggestions. But I totally love it that you are asking!!)

 

[julia-t]

It occurs to me that those vacuum packed sachets of boil-in-the-bag rice or even the microwave-in-2-minutes rice could be an option for you to carry a few, hidden deep in your pack, for those days when the rice-for-breakfast craving really needs satisfying. And perhaps some soy sauce in those little sachets or fish-shaped containers which come with sushi?

With some scraps or pieces of Jamon tossed in, surely that could work?

I daresay larger supermarkets in Spain sell those rice packets (Tilda is the main brand in the UK), so you could stock up with a few in the larger cities.

Incidentally, leftover rice is one of the major causes of food poisoning. Uncooked rice contains some sort of bacteria which can survive cooking. Unless refrigerated within one hour of cooking, this bacteria grows and can cause serious d and v issues. It is something to be aware of, and careful with.

 

[Kiwi-family]

@Robo if you were not married you would have a line of hopefuls vying for your attention.

 

[Robo]

Incidentally, leftover rice is one of the major causes of food poisoning. Uncooked rice contains some sort of bacteria which can survive cooking. Unless refrigerated within one hour of cooking, this bacteria grows and can cause serious d and v issues. It is something to be aware of, and careful with.

She has been brought up on it with never an issue

 

[J Willhaus]

What about a little can of tuna with the oil? That would also go well with an egg and you might not need the fish sauce?

 

[J Willhaus]

We also had some kind of hearty smoked cuttlefish in a tin that a Spaniard brought us for Christmas Eve dinner last winter when we were hospitelero in Zamora on the VdlP. That was also quite hearty and seemed to be a Christmas delicacy that all the women were buying at the local vegetable store for the holidays. I don't know the name of it, but surely someone here does.

 

[Kanga]

Dried smoked eel? I've seen that in vacuum sealed packs and because it is dried I assume it's a reasonable weight.

 

[Nanc]

when I lived in the forests of Burundi Africa for 3 months, i had no refrigeration and fresh eggs lasted a long time in banana leaf baskets and cooked rice in zip lock bags for days
Could be I was dancing with the devil or that some of our westernized concerns are not as prevalent as we think