Rice and Electricity

As I was talking with my dad yesterday about my grandmother, I mentioned that I would be somewhat near them visiting a beading friend of mine. He was excited because he and my mom had to go out and were nervous about leaving my grandma at home by herself. He asked if we could stay with her while he and my mom went to run some errands. It turned into inviting my beading friend and her son over for lunch and having them hang out with us at my parents' house for a couple of hours.


My mom and I planned a simple 비빔밥 and I brought the spinach and radish, while my mom made the rice, meat, and some 튀각 for some crunch (fried seaweed pieces sprinkled with sugar and sesame seeds). 


My parents had to leave just before we sat down to eat so she pointed out the rice cooker full of rice and all of the parts of the meal she had made. I dished up the rice and noticed that it looked a little different than usual, but seemed normal enough.


We ate, cleaned up, and got to the beading project my son wanted to make - an anniversary bracelet for me. (Pics to come!)


Soon after my friend and her son left, my parents arrived home and sat down to eat their lunch.  About half-way through his bowl of 비빔밥, my dad noticed that the rice wasn't quite done. I couldn't believe it since I had served it to my friends and they had never had Korean food before, plus that I failed to notice that the rice wasn't completely cooked -- what kind of Korean does that make me?!  I took the rice cooker over to him and said that it was still warm, plus there was a thin layer of rice starch on the bottom of the cooking pot. My mom looked and exclaimed that it was only half-done rice in her bowl as well and we started wondering how could it have happened.  I noticed that when I took the rice pot over, it was already unplugged.


We came to the conclusion that my grandmother must have unplugged it in her worry about using electricity and the possibility of causing harm to others or burning the house down.  As we realized that this was the most likely explanation, we all dissolved into laughter. What else could we do? There was no way we could get mad at her when she was trying so hard to keep everyone safe.