White rice is a staple of the Japanese diet, but in reality it is a fairly non-nutricious carbohydrate. Japanese feel obligated to eat it at every meal, and there is also a taboo against letting any grain remain in the bowl.
This is most inconvenient to the dieter, since he or she will want to cut out useless carbs and focus on more delicious and nutritious foods. A charming bowl of plastic white rice would be helpful. Just place a little real white rice on top to complete the trick and complement the okazu, and one's diet in Japan could be greatly aided. As for leaving any grains, the entire thing could be thrown into a pocket when one's luncheon comarades are not looking.-- Vance, Feb 05 2001 baked. every window of every little place in japan that sells donburi's and the like, displays the false gohan of today (albeit with some false unagi on top). it can be used to luncheon (which may sometimes be used as a verb) just as you propose, with real food on top and a bit of real rice. wash it all down with a shot of throat vodka and back to work! actually, i even saw a false gohan store in osaka once!
please invent some more things. i like yours the best.-- gnormal, Feb 06 2001 Thank you for your kind words. I do agree that the idea is baked in that false foods of every variety are on display in Japan. But a version for the dieter, as suggested above, is far from baked. The mound of rice would have to be "eaten" at the top to allow for real rice to be placed thereon, or to allow the appearance of half-eaten-ness. By the way, I live in Osaka right now.-- Vance, Feb 06 2001 Alternatively, the rice itself could be fake -- little white stones, perhaps, that would pass directly through, with one in ten being an actual rice grain.-- egnor, Feb 07 2001 omoshiroi, na! ii kangae kedo...i suspect that trying to slip what looks like a handful of rice into your pocket may seem rude and spark more concerns than simply not eating rice. perhaps if you could 'accidentally' spill too much shoyu on your rice, and then insist that your host not bother to replace it...'you're too busy, and i should cut down anyway...'
hmmmm
let's bun!-- changokun, Feb 20 2004 random, halfbakery