“Rice cooker? Who needs a rice cooker? Just give me a measuring cup and a pot and I can make you some good rice.”
I have heard that from many of my non-Asian friends. I have no doubt they can make fine rice using a good old reliable pot. But given a choice between a rice cooker and a pot, I’m going to use a rice cooker every time. Who wouldn’t want to just wash the rice, fill the water to the correct line, push a button and walk away? If you are making rice several times a week, you shouldn’t live without a rice cooker.
Rice cookers have come a long way in the last 30 years. Back in the day, I remember my mom showing me the knuckle method. As an analytical person, I just never understood it because everyone’s fingers are different lengths. Nevertheless it always worked for me. I guess you never question mom and her cooking secrets. Knuckle method? Here’s an explanation from Chow.com:
“Every Asian kid was taught the so-called knuckle method to determine how much water to add when cooking rice. It’s an old-wives’ tale that’s supposed to do away with the need for voodoo inventions like measuring cups or kitchen scales. Here’s how it’s supposed to work: wash your rice, pour off the excess water, level the rice, stick your index finger straight down until the tip barely touches the top of the grains, then add water until it just reaches your first knuckle. Cook and you’re supposed to get perfect rice every time. It doesn’t always work. I think the correct rice to water ratio is 1:1.5.”
These days fuzzy logic rice cookers are the rage…
“The old kind of rice cooker works like this: add rice and water, then press a button. A heat sensor in the bottom knows when your water has evaporated and the rice is done (if you put the right amount of water in to begin with), and the cooker shuts itself off. It knows because boiling water stays at a constant temperature of 212°F, whereas solid matter—rice—gets hotter. Computer-controlled fuzzy-logic cookers allegedly sense how fast your rice is cooking and adjust their temperature accordingly to cook the rice more perfectly.”
The Chow article reviewed the Zojirushi ZUTTO Neuro Fuzzy 5.5 Cup Rice Cooker (shown above) which is stylish but expensive. We have a Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy 5.5 Cup Rice Cooker and it completely rocks. It’s not inexpensive by any means, but less than the ZUTTO. The fuzzy logic makes perfect brown rice, semi-brown rice, sweet rice, mixed rice, porridge (jook, conjee or cháo), white/sushi rice, and pre-washed rice (rinse free rice).
I love sweet/sticky rice but I hated making it on the stove because it takes so long. Although, I do miss the crusty sweet rice at the bottom of the pot. But I digress. If you like different kinds of rice perfectly cooked, then I highly recommend getting a Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker, otherwise stick to a traditional one button rice cooker.
