Ok, I´ve done it. After years of holding back, I´v finally bought a rice cooker.
Look, I know I´m not Asian, hence don´t eat rice twice every day. I don´t have to feed a family of ten. I don´t have a lot of counter space. I-don´t-care! I´ve decided to cut potential sources of worry out of my life, and rice was one. Even though I consider myself to have mastered the trick of perfect white rice , it´s still something that has to be anxiously watched over and timed.
So this morning, after a brief consultation with Lydia( I firmly beleive Lydia knows everyting) I trotted off to the Chinese shops around the neighbourhood. The third produced the desired rice cooker with a hinged lid. The instructions were in Chinese, but the sales lady was very sweet, and patiently explained to me how it works, and a few recipes, even.
So I´m in a small bubble of global-village contentment today. Globalization means Starbucks is evil and wants to take over the world, sure, but it also means that I can email a friend in Rhode Island, have my advice back in five minutes, and spend a happy half hour unravelling detailed explanations in broken Spanish for Chinese food. I loved it.
So far I´ve made one batch of rice I hated. Then I realised I hadn´t pressed one of the buttons, whatever it is. Second batch was perfectly marvelous, and now I´m trying out some basmati. And all this while I finish two books, scan drawings for a wedding seating plan and answer emails!
I really don´t see why I´ve made myself wait so long to have a rice cooker, I swear I don´t.
The drawing, by the way, is not laziness but an attempt at expressing my fuzzyheaded happiness.
12 comentarios:
Congrats on the new kitchen toy! (I love the drawing, it DOES speak to your giddiness today.)
I can do sushi rice w/no problems, but non-sticky? Not yet.
Ximena, so glad to help. The best presents are the ones we buy ourselves for no reason at all, just because it's time for a treat. Have fun!
Oh dear, it's possibly the one kitchen gadget I don't own besides an ice cream maker, and now you have me wanting one. I do firmly agree, Lydia knows everything!
hi there,
cute illustrations!
as a life long user of rice cookers (i'm asian <: ) i can assure you it's well worth it. a good traditional one would also have a setting for congee, you just gotta put extra water. i've seen modern digital ones which have settings for the different types of rice..!
sometimes when i want something quick, i flavour the water (chicken stock, tomato-based sauces, oyster sauce + pepper) and dump in my veg and diced meat a little bit later and just let the cooker does it thing.
and sometimes we use it as a hotpot for a chinese steamboat.
(:
Me encanta el dibujo. es de tan buen humor....
cdc: good, I feared I wouldn´t be understood
lydia: I feel like I gave myself a diamond bracelet!
kalyn: as the number one rice-cooker bore I´ve become, I say, get it. It´s magic, I swear. I had an ice cream maker and thought it not that great an idea, but this? a must.
tytty: thanks! this is my number two step, flavoured rice, I can´t wait to try that for lunch
xps: lo voy a llevar a casa, vas a flipar
mira xime q bien, a ver si me deja esto postearte q no me deja en la puñetera vida... esa era tambien la ilusión de la vida de pedrito y se la compró hace un mes... te puedes creer?!
I bought one during a trip to Vietnam and have no instructions what so ever! I could never get the rice as I wished. It always stuck to the bottom. Please some suggestions...
My friend swears that a rice cooker is one of her favorite toys. With the fact that I burned rice in a microwave, I should probably by one.
I love rice cookers! Make sure to use good rice. I use the Japanese brands, although as you discovered, basmati ain't bad either!
Hello Ximena,
Stumbled onto your blog recently; love the little drawings that accompany your posts!
If it makes you feel any better about waiting so long before buying a rice cooker, I'm an Asian and I eat rice twice a day, and I don't have a rice cooker. The years of being a poor student made it necessary to learn to make steamed rice in a pot on the stovetop. So even now after I've started working it doesn't seem necessary to buy a rice cooker anymore...
Congee/rice porridge is one of my favourite meals - delicious with sliced fish or pork mince in it, and a great way of using up left-over rice.
My mother also uses the rice cooker to make steamed chicken with rice. Yum!
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