I never gave much thought to cooking rice...
I never gave much thouht to cooking rice until I moved to Japan--and acquired a Japanese spouse!
But we're fussy about our rice here, and nobody would dream of being without a rice cooker. Rice cookers are actually pressure cookers, so the rice is always plump and perfect.
I have the equivalent Japanese model (the same but with a different faceplate). I've had it for almost fou years and it's a real workhorse. Zoji is a value-brand here in Japan, specialising in small appiances, and known for being simple and sturdy. I would choose them over some of the big Japanese names, given the quality problems I've had with some of the other well-known electrical brands that make everything from TVs to elevators.
The rice? Can't fault it. Nor can the other half, who's ultra-critical. Makes great oatmeal, too, but I can't get the other half interested in such exotic foreign foods.
Really, really good rice.
I've made rice regularly for many years, using a steamer or using the stove. I thought I knew what well-cooked rice was. But when I eventually bought this machine, I learned what I had been missing. We are talking about wonderful texture and flavor. Yum.
The machine is very simple to operate (basically you push one button), and it'll keep your rice warm for many hours with no change in the texture, which seems remarkable to me. You can just leave it on, almost indefinitely, rather than putting your rice away and reheating it later. This is surprisingly convenient if you eat rice more than once a day.
However, you have to rinse the rice quite well or it will come out sticky. In addition, the machine doesn't come with instructions for brown rice, so I'm still figuring out the right method for that.
Also, the controls are confusing and hard to use -- an amazing achievement for such a simple machine. I could not make it any more confusing if I tried!!
My Taiwanese friend tells me...
Miracles in Technology - Perfect Rice
I purchased this machine from a local cooking supply shop, after doing some online research. The person who sold it to me told me that it was useful for little more than making really good rice. As I found out from research - that is simply not true. 'The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook' by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann (ISBN 1-55832-202-7) gives you excellent recipes that are wonderfullly suited to this device. It's the manual you wish you would have gotten with this device.
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