bocastephen

I have a wonderful Hitachi steam/pressure rice cooker I bought a couple years back from Bic Camera, but aside from making rice 95% of the time, and maybe a rice dish with chicken and ginger another 5% of the time, we haven't really used the machine to make any other dishes, except maybe a failed attempt at congee.

Does anyone have any favorite rice cooker meal recipes to share, especially something without rice, or where rice is just a part of the dish? Preferably something that won't be harsh on the nonstick bowl.

ainternational

Recently saw an article about pancakes in a rice cooker. I've seen omelettes / eggs as well, and perhaps bread if I recall correctly.

You may want to search on soranews24.com, as they have a lot of light hearted articles about things like this.

Here's a prime example: https://soranews24.com/2020/05/14/ri...a-rice-cooker/

At the tail end of the article, you'll notice their tags, such as "rice cooker" and "rice cooker pancakes". Clicking on any of those tags will bring up all articles tagged as such and may be a good starting point for your new hobby. Happy percolating!

SNA_Flyer

I use my Zojirushi to make steel cut oats, almost every morning. I set the timer in the evening and use the "porridge" program. Works pretty good. I think some of the newer (US) models have an oats program on them now.

msb0b

The steam program on my entry level Zojirushi is functionally similar to a slow cooker: It keeps the contents (water) at a slow boil for the designated duration. This opens up the possibility of making most crock pot recipe. Avoid the acidic or scratchy (bones esp) ingredients to protect the coating.

Zojirushi's recipes site also has some cake recipes: https://www.zojirushi.com/app/recipe/rice-cookers

bocastephen

Thank you! Lots of good options to try here, and I never thought of using the rice cooker as a slow cooker. Now I'll need to dig up the instruction manual again and work my way through it with Google Translate to remember all the settings I never use, but I think the giant okonomiyaki will do well in my cooker's "dry rice" setting with less steam and moisture. I can buy the pancake mix at my local Japanese supermarket.

LapLap

Since I didn’t buy a second inner pan to go with my current rice cooker, I haven’t used it to make anything but rice for all the years I’ve had it. In return the inner pan, after 8 years (more or less) is immaculate. Please be warned that using a rice cooker for anything but white rice will degrade the inner coating.

Having said that. I kept my previous rice cooker and used it in tandem with my current one until I took it to Spain.

Most successful alternative use was amazake - the “keep warm” feature is extremely useful for developing cultures, such as koji in koji inoculated rice.
I used to make amazake for events such as Girls Day in March and bring it to the school to share with the kids there - about 60% liked it, more than expected.
Similar process using the “keep warm” feature would be good for shio-koji, a fantastic ingredient for enhancing foods.

ainternational mentioned eggs - if you cook a few vegetables and garlic in oil (in or out of the rice cooker) and then, once they’re in the rice cooker pour on beaten eggs and cook they make a great frittata type dish that you can slice and eat at room temperature for picnics or bento.

The old rice cooker I keep in Spain has become mostly a slow cooker. Add ingredients, press the “cook for x hours” button and then go off to the beach or mountain. Once we’re back and showered, lunch is ready. We have no A/C there so it’s great not having to stand over a stove. The inside pot is, alas, completely knackered. I can still make rice with it, but the Teflon has all gone and it sticks like crazy. Am better off making rice in a thick nabe pot (heat retention is excellent so it cuts down on fuel consumption which has to come up to the third floor in massive “bottles” - still the mid Showa era in our flat there)

plunet

Cooking a whole chicken in a rice cooker is something I never supposed might be possible but is surprisingly good (seen this done in a Chinese rice cooker it is, I am sure the Japanese ones are just as capable).

Something along the lines of https://www.frugalnutrition.com/easy...e-rice-cooker/ but I am sure there are other recipes out there.

returnoftheyeti

Rice Cooket Pancakes are the bomb.

bocastephen

My biggest concern with going too creative is the inner pot because I can’t go to Japan for the foreseeable future, and I’m pretty certain I can’t get a compatible replacement pot for this particular machine in the USA.

LapLap

Unfortunately, and I have the experience to back it up, this is the real price of going “off piste” with a rice cooker. Sorry for the bad news.

I don’t know how long your inner pot will “hold” against all the ingredients involved in exploring all the functions of your rice cooker. I doubt it will be more than two or three years. Saying that, I have a lower end Zujirushi and by committing to only using it for white rice (sometime with a spoon of millet or other grains added) it has remained pristine and if it doesn’t last ten years it will be because of the electronics failing.

It’s a choice you have to make. And slow cookers are extraordinarily cheap if that’s what you’re looking to do.

If you can get a ceramic “donabe” pot you might be surprised at how versatile it is. I am still being surprised by the versatility and results from mine. Turns out that it has a lot more qualities than I had understood. It’s what I turn to if I want rice with okoge (golden crust) or a stock rich takikomigohan, and am turning more and more to it for stews and casseroles.

There is a company in Japan who have been taking the ceramic donabe concept forwards, and I’ve learned quite a bit from them these past couple of months. I don’t have one of their “bestpots”, the one I use in London is a Muji donabe I picked up cheaply on sale some time ago. The Bestpot website has shifted the way I think about and use it, and for the better.
Here’s the page with recipes that showcase what a donabe can do so that you’ll be less tempted to cut short your rice cooker pan’s life.
https://www.bestpot.jp/recipe_blog

bocastephen

This is great advice, thank you! Although I am under "orders" to avoid buying any more kitchen gadgets, I will have a look through one of the larger Japanese markets with a big cookware section and see if they have one of these pots, it might be a good option.

LapLap

I’d recommend a donabe suitable for cooking rice rather than one of those really wide ones just for nabe. It should either have a very heavy lid or a double lid configuration. Either kind will stop the flavours inside evaporating along with the steam.