Rice
From Almeopedia
Rice is a grass which yields an abundant but rather low-protein grain. It grows naturally in marshes and wetlands— it will only sprout in shallow water. Areas suitable for rice are common in the Rau jungle, but in Nan they have been extended by irrigation. Rice is almost unique in not requiring fallowing; the same field can be used to grow rice year after year.
The grain is not polished; it’s close to what we’d call brown rice. It must be soaked for some time, then steamed. It is also fermented into rice wine (ɔnyo); and cooked rice can be steamed with water or milk and formed into cakes or edible wrappers.
Rice is the staple crop of Nan; and since it keeps well it has been an export to the temperate regions back to ancient times. The Kebreni have attempted to cut out the middlemen by growing it on their northern islands, without much success; in the last century they’ve begun rice plantations in Moreo Ašcai, on irrigated terraces on the island hills.
