Chinese rice

[ambuletz]

JimM169 said:

Any recommendations for an electric rice cooker then, or are they all the same ?

all same. even a cheap one will do you fine. it all depends on how much rice you want to cook at once. having a large one is good if you have guests over as you can just lift the pot out of the rice cooker and throw it on the table. non-stick preferable as it makes it easier to clean and you would be able to dish up all the rice (and not have a stuck together layer at the bottom).

[dapprman]

ambuletz said:

JimM169 said:

Any recommendations for an electric rice cooker then, or are they all the same ?

all same. even a cheap one will do you fine. it all depends on how much rice you want to cook at once. having a large one is good if you have guests over as you can just lift the pot out of the rice cooker and throw it on the table. non-stick preferable as it makes it easier to clean and you would be able to dish up all the rice (and not have a stuck together layer at the bottom).

Not all the same long shot. The Japanese rice cookers are far superior to the cheap Chinese/Korean ones, however ... they also cost considerably more - we're talking ~£120-200 compared to £30-50.
Personally I use a microwave rice cooker and it works well for me. I also have a Onepot - but so far have found it's rice cooking functionality to be poor at best.

[wong]

An electric rice cooker is the way to go if you plan to cook rice regularly. A cheap one is OK. Fancy ones will do congee, and sponge cakes, but in the 20 years I've had a rice cooker with this capabilty, I've only ever cooked rice in it.

Always wipe dry the base of the pan before cooking. Any fluid will be trapped and may steam up during cooking, short circuiting the innards. This was drummed in to me as a kid by my parents, and granted, rice cooker technology has advanced since then, but it's a quick easy step.

Make sure you don't lose the plastic measuring cup that it comes with. One cup = one serving/person and corresponds to the level you fill the water up to on the scale marked in the pan. You can adjust this level afterwards as it will vary with type of rice and preferable hardness/fluffiness you prefer the rice, but its a good guide.

We use a Panasonic model that has lasted daily use for over 10 years now - cost ~ 40 pounds now in HK. You can pay over 500 pounds for a rice cooker in HK now.