When Daniel Way, a sophomore at Sahuaro, found out he was 4% Chinese, he was inspired to write this story. He likes playing video games and skateboarding in his free time. He wants to go into law school or apply to be in the military when he gets older.

Is it rice or beans? Is it rice or beef? That is the question. Is rice the only food we need? Well, I’m here to tell you that it is and why I believe it. I believe that rice is the best food and that it should be eaten at every meal. I first came to this realization when I was on vacation in Carlsbad, California, and I found out that I was part Chinese. When I was told this, I was like that’s pretty cool, but I had no idea that it would change my life forever.

The first time I ate rice after hearing that it’s almost as if the rice activated my Asian senses that I didn’t even know existed. Some of the side effects of this was that the flavor of rice started to become sweeter, saltier, and more delicious as time passed. And the more I ate it, the more I felt like I was in heaven. These symptoms continued to develop and became more pronounced as time went on. The more I thought about it the more I felt like I couldn’t live without it. I became addicted to it like it was opium or something (Which sadly most of my ancestors were addicted to). Also, rice started to become the only thing that I ate and if I didn’t get it, I would be pissed and start yelling at everyone. At this point in my life, I very much believed in this quote by some Chinese dude whose name I cannot pronounce, Yaris Ng Pang: “We cannot survive without rice; rice is the reason why we work the reason we live.”

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I started to become a rice zealot. But at a certain point, this belief shifted. And it all started one summer day when I went to go and make some rice for myself for breakfast and then I noticed that there was no more rice left in the bag. I began to flip out and proceeded to ask my mom where the rice was. She told me that we ran out of rice. I knew that she was mendacious because if you know anything about an Asian household you know that they never “run out of rice”. It was only a matter of time before I found the cache of rice and went on to make myself a cup of rice. But that day I decided to mix in some leftover steak from the night before and an egg, and when I took a bite of it everything changed my whole mindset of just eating rice changed. My mind was open to the infinite possibilities of eating rice with all sorts of things like beef, chicken, and pork. Although the possibilities were not to the point where it would be sacrilegious. My belief was ultimately changed to rice being the best food for its compatibility with all sorts of things. To this day this life-changing rice experience has affected me forever. And there is not a day since that revelation that I have had a plain bowl of rice. 

PS: I am only 4% Chinese