Oh wow, I need to say this. I'm a black woman almost 60 years old. I was raised in a predominantly black neighborhood in the 70's. A Vietnamese family moved across the street from me. I became friends with a very smart young lady name Anna, if i remembered correctly and she and her family would invite me over from time to time for dinner and they would serve something like this but it was chicken over rice, I never forgot that and would sometimes look for this because it was so good. Awesome post, thank you for sharing. It brought back a wonderful memory.
Dope Phillipines provided neighbor's in the hood in jersey 90s also. N it tasted like a broth with green onions scallions n rice it was so good but my friend took me to her grand mother's room n we kissed n dryed all clothes on lovin n never was allowed again dam I'm from the Caribbean but still think of her lol it was her fault she used to give me love letters Blair we were like 6 we was dumb lil kids n it was her fault I was the atom
@@IhateAlot718 😂😂the stereotype out of nowhere. I’m sorry that we all don’t have that problem like you wish. You are loved if no one told you that today or EVER.
Being broke/poor really makes you appreciate any warm meal, like having a warm meal instead of something quick from a bag or like some white bread sandwich makes you feel so good! Rice and soy sauce is still one of my favs
Even in the US rice with potato curry can't possibly be mire expensive then white bread or something from the bag.... When I was broke I ate rice with apple souce or grits cooked with milk or rice with the cheapest veg cooked as curry, mainly potatos, carrots frozen peas, zuchhini, cabbage, Kohlrabi.
@@Takazoro Frozen vegetables and chicken quarters are also super cheap. My Albertsons sells a 2lb bag of mixed veg for just $3.49, chicken quarters for $1/lb, and 2lbs of rice for $1.99. Add some soy sauce, and you could get by spending less than $5 a day on food with that and get much better nutrition than you would get from cup noodles. If you need extra fiber and protein, add in some dry beans or lentils, which are insanely cheap as well ($1.29/lb dry = 2lbs wet).
Bro as an indonesian i can verify this but its a diffrent name in every country , also its made out of PORK so its diffrent bc most of us dont eat those
My grandfather was a farmer and used to process amd smoke his own meats. I’ll never forget, he made this one dried meat that looked very similar to this in a Smokey BBQ flavor and in a teriyaki flavor… I’ve been looking for something similar my entire life. THANK YOU! I will be trying this!
girl i cant believe i used to be shamed for eating white rice w soy sauce its so delish! i sometimes added canned tuna also cause we usually had that in the cabinets.. bringing back memories of a lonely childhood lmao
Ah canned tuna and rice 🥰 I had some just last week cause I didn't feel like cooking lunch. It's so good! Lil soy sauce Lil garlic powder and a dab of mayo 😗👌
Rice + soy sauce was, and still is, my number 1 lazy food. I almost always have some rice ready and whenever I just feel like I don't want to cook or make anything, pour a soy sauce or sweet soy sauce on it and voila, a delicious meal is ready. And it's even easier to prepare than instant noodle!
Fried rice is good with "yum yum" sauce which i think has mayonnaise so even though this sounds weird to me maybe tuna would be ok with rice?? As long as good sauce is used ig
I can't relate to all these cooking channels with their fancy ingredients, no one cooks everyday, sometimes you just gotta take a piece of bread and bowl of rice and add some random thing from the fridge
When I was in West Africa, they taught me the struggle meal of rice, sprinkled with chicken flavored Maggie seasoning, and a little red palm oil. If you had some sliced onion or cucumber, you're really ballin'! And yes from hanging out with my Asian friends I got rice, soy sauce, and we put sesame oil too. I like to put pepper flakes on both versions.😊
I remember our home alone meals for me and my younger bro were toast with cinnamon and sugar and those packets of powdered mashed potatoes and some kind of deli meat. Then we’d go in the living room and watch penguins of Madagascar be on the internet completely unsupervised and see something traumatizing. Good times man
😂😂watching Kimbo Slice beat the everything fxck out of someone his size and telling him I ain't finished when the other guy was done, was traumatic and mesmerizing at the same time when you're a kid 😂
Latch key kid, home alone, and couldn't use the stove. She's very relatable. But instead of a rice cooker, I had a toaster oven, and grilled cheese was my after school meal.
Everyone always looked at me like a dang freak for eating rice with soy sauce. I'd grab that at school when I just wanted a little something to tide me over until I got home, until the school forbid that. They forced us to buy full meals and not just sides. Utter trash school rules, but I'll still grab some rice and douse it in soy sometimes.
@@Megz1794 but forcing a kid to have a full meal and to pay for it- what if you cant afford that or dont want to spend money on microwave pizza or burgers or whatever schools serve now? better to let people choose what theyll eat as long as they eat something (or sign a waiver).
My cousin had a Chinese landlord who used to gift him a huge container of pork floss around Christmas and we'd always tear it up with some rice and beans. Goes great on ramen too.
I’m living alone and I’m 19. Life is hard for me right now, I go to college and I work after for two hours at a gas station then I have a night shift at 8 pm at the local grocery store lasting 2 and a half hours. I have to study for my exams and i have to do my assignments too. I’ve been struggling real hard to provide only for me. I never knew how hard stuff would get. Even a simple sandwich and drink can be one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten, I miss my childhood and parents, they have passed. I hope everything will get better and I hope all this struggle will be for the better for me.
Adobo is my favorite rice + meat combo dish. My step grandparents would make it for the entire week when they’d visit and i never got tired of it. Chicken, rice, steamed veggies with either tea or low sugar juices are all you really need to eat pretty healthy.
@@kane6529 definitely not easy to find in America lol. You have a choice between hawaiian punch with more sugar than soda or minute maid branded stuff which still has tons of sugar. Just gotta make your own juice i guess
One time that’s all I had and didn’t want to just eat rice for dinner everyday. I remember over hearing my neighbor outside disciplining her kids telling them if they don’t act right they have to eat just plain rice for dinner.. 🫠😪😪 LMAO I was like bro! Ahahah
Been there. Once, I struggled so badly because of lack of work, I had pennies left. I swear, I cut a bit of onion, used a tea spoon of tomato paste and a hand full of frozen veggies with a hand full of lentils. cooked it, although it's basically horrible and not much of anything, just the smell made me happy, with a bit of rice. I survived on this for almost 2 weeks. Like you said, we only appreciate things when we don't have them.
@@phoenixskyward9972 omg, same. Ive never had money growing up, so my favorite meal was plain spaghetti (no butter, oil, sauce, whatever) and that was it. You can get spaghetti for $1-2 and it lasts for days! Also, im pretty sensitive to food, so plain spaghetti was better to me anyways 😅
this is SUCH a taiwanese meal! I visited Taiwan just 2 weeks ago since it’s been years and every food stall was selling these ingredients in one way or another. so comforting and filled with love
Pork floss on rice with an egg, fuckin’ delicious. I’d never heard of the stuff until I started cooking at a Creole/Vietnamese fusion place in New Orleans. I started putting it in the fried rice I’d make for family meal. Same basic dish but y’know, with the rice fried. I love posts like this because of the comments, I really enjoy reading about others’ formative food memories. Food and cooking are truly universal human experiences and I always feel connected to other people when I see stuff like this.
I never knew it was called pork floss. I always called it “that beef jerky dip” because it came in that tobacco dip package and kids would always pretend they were dipping with it and put a big ol clump under their lip and spit on the ground.
Strugle meal in my country just salt and rice If you really poor , you know leftovers rice we dried it in the sun And cook it again Sometime it smell like roten rice That since dutch colonial
In Vietnamese, this is called Chà Bông (pretty sure there’s a few variations of its name, but this is what I grew up with). It’s basically what really, really overcooked pulled pork seasoned with the most godly combination of spices that will guarantee to make you coming back for second. Normally serve with Bánh Mì or sticky rice. If you never tried it, I recommend the Lee’s Sandwich version, since it’s more catered to the average American
I usually dice 3-4 cloves of garlic and fry em until soft(not burnt!) and add leftover rice with some salt and red chili paper. It's honestly soo good. You should try it!
Yes this was exactly my struggle meal. Except we had garlic red chili powder, and not so much oil left in the kitchen, so I just mixed rice + garlic chili powder + salt.
We make the meat floss in Northern Nigeria called Dambun Nama and it looks exactly like this. We make it out of beef and chicken usually, though I've had ostrich dambu. Rarely, you see fish dambu which is very oily and nice.
Ngl, I've been craving for just rice with soy sauce for a while. When I finally got to eat it with some rice that was still warm, god it tasted better than I was expecting. Food from my childhood really is the best (well... most of them).
The American childhood equivalent for me was buttered pasta (or maybe just olive oil) with salt and pepper. Buttered white rice with soy sauce was also a favorite, especially later when grown and living with roommates during hard times. A rice cooker is one of the best investments.
White rice and pan fried beef link cut up into small pieces to “stretch” the meat. I fed this to my son when I used to be broke, broke. There usually wasn’t enough for me cuz I needed it to last til the next day. He’s 17 and he STILL loves it, even though we’re not broke, broke anymore. God is SO good🙌🏾!
Why do couples who are clearly struggling financially want to have a kid? Youre kid is not gonna be eating or living good so why not work harder earn more money then talk about having kids
I remember during the 1970s, there were times where all we had was beans and rice. There was always rice leftover. We used to get the free packaged government commodity food. My brother and I would take the dried powdered eggs, spices, mixed it with milk, leftover rice and fry it in leftover recycled oil to make our lunch. Later, we learned to mix it with onions and soy sauce. It was food that kept us full and satisfied...
My struggle meal is something my mom showed me. Its a tortilla with ham and cheese folded in half then put on a pan. The cheese melts the ham gets warm and the tortilla is just perfect. At my house we always had left over tortillas.
I had gotten let go from a job because they downsized and fired all the temps. My dad just 'knew' it was because I was 'lazy' and was so upset that he grabbed a social friend and told me I'd be house-sitting for a few days. (Mainly just to get me out of the house to avoid 'confrontation'.) During this time I made one meal because I didn't want to be a bother and it lasted almost all five days for me. I spent all five days at the other house, watching two small dogs, and playing Dark Souls (as it had just come to PC). I put wild rice, black beans, chicken breast, tomato, and some spices in. I couldn't have used more than $20 of materials. I cooked the chicken until it was easily shredded, then added more water and cooked the rice and beans, adding the tomato mix with some spices later. My actual struggle meal as I was dealing with major depression at the time.
Depression is very much a crippling issue. It’s so hard to overcome, but it ABSOLUTELY CAN BE DONE! I sincerely hope you’ve found your way out! Nobody should ever have to suffer in silence!! If you’re still struggling, I’m here. To just listen, or offer you resources. Whatever you need! Whatever ANYBODY needs!! You’re 1000% not alone. In your struggle, or in this world! 🖤🖤
That sounds really good. Our rice cooker just died, it was my husbands before he was with me and we met in 2015, have been together since 2016, married since 2018. RIP rice cooker, we have been looking for a replacement but it’s amazing how much rice we actually eat each week, it’s great since I have major depression and if he cooks something else I can at least put the rice cooker on without feeling overwhelmed- hope things are okay with you now ❤🫂
When my family was broke broke to the point we couldn’t get anything fresh from the supermarket. Mum would always make us rice with Maggie seasoning soy sauce and just fried egg. That’s it, it lasted us for a couple days even more if you don’t get tired of the taste.
I grew up on rice with "butter" and soy sauce. Sometimes frozen dinners. Throughout my time at a competitive private university, I realized how broke I grew up, just observing what all my new friends and classmates were eating.
@@HeyhitmeBAM man, cat food is even more expensive than rice 😂😂😂 We basically combine rice+soy sauce, rice+oil+a dash of salt. That's our struggle meal when we were young.
@@HeyhitmeBAM I wasn’t commenting on the food she was making, I was commenting on the fact that she called it a “struggle meal.” Her version of a “struggle meal” was something she made for herself when her parents weren’t home. What my family called a “struggle meal” was something you’d have to eat 4 to 5 days a week for dinner (grilled cheese, hot dogs, baked potatoes, etc.) because we couldn’t afford anything else
As a Filipino American, i must say that this is so relatable on every level. Except the chopsticks part, i just ate with my hands and suffered sticky skin later
Mexico and Philippines share so many similarities when it comes to culture and food…I’m sure there is a good amount of dna mixed within both countries via the Galleon trade for hundreds of years between Manila and Acapulco
About 90% of the time, my mom comes up with the best struggle meals that don't even feel like struggle meals. Ones that are basic struggle meals and ones she'll throw together when she doesn't know what to cook and it works. One of my faves is white rice and cornbeef
@@casedistorted living paycheck to paycheck but you gotta pay a unexpected bill or buy kids clothes or shoes etc so you need to make what money you have last
We always had rice ready to eat in my family. Both my parents worked a lot and there'd be those evenings where they'd call us and say "heat up the rice and whatever frozen veggies you guys want for dinner." As an adult, I still eat a ton of rice and veggies.
I'd agree that it's delicious, but it's still a struggle meal because it's something affordable for people that don't make much (I've been raised with a lot of rice/canned good meals).
I add a little sesame oil too. *chefs kiss*. We eat rice, soy sauce and sesame oil with fried eggs sometimes, and as a kid my parents called it “Chinese specialty”. Still one of my most nostalgic meals. Also, as a kid said “soy sauce and sesame oil” more often than “salt and pepper”
I don't know why but this video makes me sad about the poverty in the Philippines, Millions of people eat this everyday because of the lack of money, some of them don't even have soy sauce and/or even rice, some of them use salt as a substitute for soy sauce and cassava for rice
My grandfather’s nurse was from the Philippines & she made the best dishes including the emergency meals (struggle meal). One time it was boiled eggs with tomato chopped up in it.
When I was younger, our struggle meal was cornbeef and rice. Folks would season the cornbeef, add onions sometimes corn. 🌽 Was one of my best meals growing up!! 😋
I'm so sorry you didn't grow up with eating grilled tomahawk steaks, lobster, shrimp, lamb beef and sushi as a child! :( Cause that was and still is one of the BEST meals l've ever eaten in my life :)) even crayfish is delicious here, lm so glad l got to experience all of that as a child :3
My mom would put a few dashes of Italian dressing on rice. For some reason I thought this was delicious and a delicacy. Years later, i Realize she was waiting for the paycheck to hit her account so we could go buy real food! Great memories and I like seeing how folks of all cultures dress up their rice.
When my best friends sister was vegetarian, she would make a meal similar to this! It would be rice, eggs, green beans and soy sauce. Such a simple but filling snack. Also, I’m pretty sure they sell pork floss to kids here in the US as fake “chew tobacco”. Fake container and all. 😂
When I was in college I had two halfasian roomates who when they moved in brought with them a rice cooker and 50lb bag of rice. It was a completely game changer. Though they made fun of me when I'd just eat it with soy sauce😂 I bought the next bag.
I am a bad Irishman because I prefer rice to potatoes, though, like too many of us, I like plain rice, with maybe some beans or a little meat, but just plain rice with butter and salt is great.
My struggle meal is hot rice, seaweed and a can of tuna; it can’t be beat. But if you have a little bit more time than 2 minutes and the ingredients you can make a spicy tuna bibimbap with lettuce and rice in less time it takes to make a BLT.
@@MrAhuraMazda I mean to make the Tuna bibimbap is just soy sauce, gochujang, red pepper flakes, sugar and sesame oil. It’s pretty standard stuff. Adding avocado is a bit rich though; I personally wouldn’t do that.
@@MrAhuraMazda Canned tuna with rice and seaweed isn’t a struggle meal? These things are very cheap and 2 out of the 3 ingredients are in most people’s pantry 😂 struggle meals aren’t always just bread and butter sandwiches or ramen lol.
Cambodian here, mines was Rice with over easy eggs,usually bottom side fried nice and crisp, and sprinkle some soy sauce and some blacc pepper. That sh!t be hittin forreal
As a fellow Vietnamese, I definitely have had these on days where there really wasn’t much at home. In the Southern dialect, we called these “chà bông”
as a vietnamese, rice and pork floss is goated for a struggle meal in my opinion, love the heck out of it whenever i don't have much to eat with my rice
