Charcoal Air Purifier (2005-01-28)
In western countries, people use charcoal for pretty much one purpose: BBQ. Here it has two other peculiar functions: rice flavor enhancer and air purifier. Japanese believe cooking a piece of charcoal with rice will greatly improve the flavor of the rice. But not all charcoal has this ability. Only the kind of briquette made from burning a special kind of hardwood is fit for the job.
Charcoal is also said to be able to purify the air in a room and get
rid of bad smell. I don't know if charcoal has that kind of
purifying property, but I do know that a bowl of briquettes can't do
very much for the aesthetic interior design of a room.
Call me a hard critic, but if I want to improve the flavor of rice,
I'll just cook some Thailand's fragrant long grain rice, no charcoal is
needed in the cooking process. As for air purifier, I prefer lots
and lots of plants and good-smelling roses and flowers to big black
briquettes. Simple common sense, really.
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