My experience on palate : Lucky Rice
What did i learn?
When i first tasted my dish “lucky rice” , I experienced it too sweet and sour because of the presence of oyster sauce and lemon in it. Also it had dipping sauce named prik naam pla which is a chilli dip from Thailand.
The taste was somewhere savory because of its Thai chilli and garlic combination. Although i found it to be a healthy dish providing essential nutrients by using Chinese broccoli ,oyster sauce and eggs in it. It has a different flavor of sweet and sour because of seasonings used which were made up of various ingredients.
Did I enjoy this food?
I didn’t like it very much because of its moistness due to eggs and also due to the taste. The eggs were half cooked. At first i thought the dish would be spicy because of its origin from Thai cuisine, but with surprise it came out to be more sweet and sour than being spicy .
Would I eat it again ?
I would eat it again but with different recipe. I would try to make it in more balanced flavor in a way that I would prefer. Also , I will incorporate little different ingredients as for my taste I like spicy more as compared to sweet and sour. I will use more vegetables in rice next time instead of eggs.
Are there certain flavors I find more or less appealing ?
For me, there is lack of spiciness and it can be increased by adding different sauces. Also to make it flavorful, I would add more veggies instead of adding eggs because eggs moisten the dish and I like it dry more. Although i liked the odor of lucky rice.
How has this experience changed the way in which I will taste, analyse and use foods in my cooking ?
From this experience of lucky rice , i found it to vary from my taste preference. I like more spicy rather than sweet and sour. Although the dipping sauce was chilli dip which can create a spiciness. For my future cooking, firstly I would analyse all the ingredients and the flavor they will bring out so that I can arrange them in a way so that some different taste can be made out of it. Also, I learned it is important to first determine the dish by checking its taste, texture and aroma before presenting it to a table so that necessary steps can be taken for customer’s preference. In conclusion, i liked my first experience and will surely use it in my future cooking.
Invited someone to look at and sharing my experience.
I made my friend taste this dish and she liked it very much. She liked the texture of rice that was soft and moist with the presence of eggs in it. Also, she loved the dipping sauce with lucky rice. She also felt it similar to fried rice with little difference of taste.
Sensory Evaluation of Lucky Rice
5 Basic Tastes :
Salty : Dish was salty because of the presence of pepper , oyster sauce and seasonings. Although the finished dish wasn’t salty much.
Sweet : Due to the oyster sauce, dish had some sweetness in it.
Sour : Because of the tomatoes and lemon sourness was detected.
Bitter: There wasn’t any bitterness in the dish.
Umami : Using seasonings Thai chili , lemon, tomatoes and dipping sauce gave the dish a savory taste.
Observations :
Taste : Overall the taste of the dish was mix of all basic tastes. It was sweet and sour with little bit of spiciness because of Thai chilli dip named prik naam pla sauce.
Smell: Oyster sauce is made by reducing oyster extracts which created a fishy smell , it was very strong that dominated the other ingredient’s fragrance.
Sight: The finished product was in light brown color due to pepper and oyster sauce with spring onions all over it with scrambled eggs. The rice was overcooked in texture.
Touch: The dish was moist due to half cooked eggs and sauce in it and rice was overcooked and soft which was looking like mashed potatoes. It had a shine in it due to oiliness.
Relatable and similar flavors
This dish “lucky rice” is similar to fried rice as it had similar style of cooking. The only difference was that fried rice are half cooked with spicy flavor and lucky rice are overcooked with little spiciness The texture of lucky rice was more soft and moist.
How is this dish unique?
Lucky rice is unique due to its Thai origin. It is very common dish in Thailand. For me this dish can be made with more creativity using different flavors and ingredients . Trying it out for first time was neutral experience for me as I am more of a spicy person and the dish gave sweet and sour taste. It gives a dominating fragrance of oysters and is served best with dipping sauce named prik naam pla.
Culinary World of Bhavya Vinayak 