Nov 30, 2021
SHANGHAI – Earlier this month, USA Rice exhibited at the 2021 Global Food Trade Show (FHC) here with both an in-person booth and an online showroom featuring U.S. rice exporters.
The in-person booth welcomed more than 200 visitors who viewed U.S. rice product packages and were entertained by chefs preparing recipes made with U.S.-grown rice. Five special dishes utilizing U.S. rice were served including Japanese sushi, Shanghai dried shrimp rice balls, Thai coconut rice cake, western-style bacon cheese rice rolls, and Vietnam beef rice spring rolls.
“The head chef from the XiBei restaurant chain tasted the Thai coconut rice cake and liked the texture of U.S. rice in that dish,” said Jim Guinn, USA Rice director of Asia promotion programs. “She was happy to hear that the rice cake recipe can be scaled up for production in commercial kitchens and would work for chain restaurants like XiBei with 380 restaurants in 58 cities in China serving more than 50 million consumers annually.”
Another head chef, with the Being foodservice caterers Hua Jia Yi Yuan, said he would welcome the opportunity to incorporate U.S. rice on his menu after tasting samples of the bacon cheese rice rolls and Shanghai-style shrimp rice balls.
“Industry professionals who stopped by the USA Rice booth picked up information and taste tested samples of U.S. rice,” said Guinn. “We made valuable contacts with exporters who showed serious interest in U.S. rice.”