Bamboo Charcoal

I went shopping with my friend Mie,
we went to the Daimaru department store in Kawaramachi
while we were looking around, we came across a big stand selling bamboo charcoal which for me was really strange , I mean who buys charcoal? right?

well........

Mie said that charcoal is actually quite commonly used in japan, in her home they use it to cook the rice because it makes it shinier and also makes it taste better and adds a whole bunch of good for you minerals to the rice, she also said that charcoal freshens up the air by taking away bad odors caused by bacteria.

After I heard this I thought I had to try it for my self and so I bought a pack of 3 bamboo charcoal sticks, I placed 2 in the house for air freshening and kept the remaining one for cooking.

I tried the rice and its true its comes out a bit shinier though not that much but the taste is different.

I looked up the properties of this type of charcoal and it actually has a lot of benefits like :
1- absorbs chlorine in water
2-promotes deeper sleep
3 absorbing unpleasant smells
4- releasing negative ions

the list goes on an on but you have to read it for yourself, so visit this website to learn more about how to use this around your house: http://www.can.com.sg/neocan/en/streetwise/shop/black_to_nature/the_benefits_of_bamboo.html

these pages also have great info :
http://www.pyroenergen.com/articles/bamboo-charcoal-benefits.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_2145666_use-bamboo-charcoal.html

Mata ne!