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Comment by eru | Hacker News Reader

You can get some very fancy rice cookers in Asia, with lots of buttons. Some of them really do produce a better end result.

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I use a Zojirushi NS-LAC05. (I believe the current version of this model is the NS-LHC05.)

https://www.zojirushi.com/app/category/rice-cookers

It makes great rice consistently and easily.

The only quirk is that their "cup" measure is 1 gou (一合枡), which is just over 3/4 of a US cup. It's just a cultural thing, but the adaptation I had to make was real — I got this rice cooker as a hand-me-down from an Asian friend, and it didn't include the OEM 1-gou cup. It took a bit before I figured out how to get the proportions right.

The results are better than what my parents used to get with their old Black and Decker RC400. It's possible that there was user error involved with the RC400, which I recall burning on the bottom. I've never burnt any rice with the Zojirushi, and I'm not even sure how I could go about it if I wanted to. Certainly the Zojirushi produces better rice than I used to make cooking it on the stovetop in an ordinary pot.

I'd like to know just how the Zojirushi gets such great results. My guess is that it's some combination of good temperature measurement and even heat application to ensure that their well-researched cooking formulas get accurately applied.

The way I think about the Zoji cup is that one cup of dry rice makes one (US) cup when cooked. In other words, cooked rice is 33% more by volume than dry rice.

My mother's measure, from an old college cookbook: "One cup of rice make three cups of RICE". (With eyes springing wide open and fingers splaying outwards at "RICE", followed by a hearty giggle).

Our measures are way off from each other. Yours sounds like the "rice made for sumo wrestlers" I remember from an old story, where rice was made with progressively less water over time to toughen up the trainees.

Thanks for reminding me - I also used to own a Zojirushi, and all the conversions were a lot more headache than I've had with my Instant Pot. I had to write down all the calculations on a 3x5 card, and then try not to lose that, or get it wet in the kitchen!

I just take a 1-US-cup measuring cup and fill it 3/4 full for each "cup" that the Zojirushi wants. Like a "heaping cup" in reverse.

>I just take a 1-US-cup measuring cup and fill it 3/4 full for each "cup" that the Zojirushi wants.

I thought 3/4 was one of the 'normal' measuring cups in a set, but just googled it and I guess it's not.

I was surprised at the rice cooker section at Yodobashi Camera in Tokyo Akaba that they were serving samples of cooked rice from each of the many, many models they sell. My American senses failed to detect any difference. And yes, that was only one of the multitude of surprises in that wonderland of a store.

they really do, perfect rice everytime if you wash when necessary and use the proper rice to water ratios

Tastes and has the texture of Chinese restaurant rice. I use mine 3+ days a week. Worth it if you eat that much.

It's funny, because here in Singapore the gold standard for rice would be Japanese and Korean restaurants. The various Chinese cuisines aren't really all that renowned for their rice. (Just like eg the English technically have bread in their cuisine, but it's nothing to write home about.)

I can't say I know the difference, but I imagine the Japanese and Korean rices aren't like the 'boil in a bag' stuff Americans eat at home that I'm comparing it too.

Oh, approximately no one uses boil-in-the-bag rice in Singapore. Neither at home nor in a restaurant, even at the low end.

The various Chinese cuisines have serviceable rice, it's just that the premium stuff tends to be Japanese and Korean. (But it's not just a single 'quality' dimension. They differ in kind, too.)

Btw, you should try Nasi Lemak. It's a dish that has its rice in coconut milk. Very tasty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasi_lemak

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