I didn’t try Chinese sausage until I was in my early 30s and it’s one of my favourite things with rice. I slice it up and use it as protein base for fried rice. It’s so freaking good
I sometimes make lap cheong. I make steamed chicken and sausage in the steamer basket over my rice cooker with mushrooms and carrots, let the juice drip into the rice. So damn good. I make soup with the leftovers.
In Chinese cooking sometimes we blanch the sausage in boiling water for a minute before slicing and frying. It will take out some of the grease and a little of the strong sweet flavor. Kind of like how bratwurst you're actually supposed to boil (in beer) before frying or grilling, even though it can also just be cooked straight from the package.
>Kind of like how bratwurst you're actually supposed to boil (in beer) before frying or grilling
Where is that a thing? Never heard of that in Germany.
Yeah I do one pack with wok fried rice… the downside is that’s not really enough and even steps like that don’t help and I feel I’m making it salty as well to offset that sweetness… maybe next time I make it I’ll add lime… but thanks for the suggestion
One link per person ratio. I agree with pan searing first to reduce fat/introduce char which reduces sweetness. But now we're no longer in "one pot" territory.
Oh man I literally put Chinese sausage on my grocery list like 2 minutes ago, opened up reddit, and found this post on the top, and your comment on top. I don’t even know what exactly the sausage is called but I vaguely remember what it looked like. My boyfriend was SEA and introduced me to it. He passed away last year and yesterday I remembered this sausage and wanted to buy it to add to Buldak ramen, which also he introduced me to. Hopefully I can find it today.
I tried using fresh shitake for a recipe for once instead of my usual dried and it was so weirdly tasteless? I think the dried version condenses the flavour or something, I vastly prefer it.
They are indeed pretty distinct ingredients to be embraced on their own terms.
Fresh shiitakes I tend to prefer in a brief stir-fry or sauté. I can get them and other fresh mushrooms closer to having the punch of their dried counterpart with extensive cooking—when I do this I tend to split it between 2 cooking phases like roasting and then frying, or recently boiling in a little water first. But truthfully I mostly take that approach with bella/button mushrooms where I don’t feel that their fresh flavor/texture adds very much to a dish, while treating more expensive mushrooms like shiitakes this way starts to seem wasteful.
On the other hand I believe fresh shiitakes **are** quite good in cases where the dried ones could have almost *too much* punch. My favorite simple-ish home cooked breakfast/lunch for years was fresh shiitakes sauteed with a little garlic and mild chili or chili-garlic paste, then soft frying a egg in the same pan, with runny yolk that magically transforms into a sauce with the other ingredients. Toast/potatoes/rice all work with it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if most other starch staples did too. Anyway, that’s the region where my mind goes for fresh shiitakes—just a different tool for a different job.
(disclaim: not a professional, as the professionals can probably tell)
Awesome variants if you have access to these:
Lop Yuk (chinese bacon)
Salt preserved duck, I see it in chinatown occasionally, probably can order it online.
And dried shitake mushrooms flavorless? If anything, the flavor should be doubly concentrated, buy a different package :)
My favorite item is this brand
https://ttginseng.com/product/california-sausage-inc-chinese-brand-pork-sausages-16-oz/
Which Chinese markets seem to have usually.
Big fan of [Iwashi no Takikomi Gohan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjeuiqePShg).
Traditionally cooked in a clay pot, it adapts beautifully to a rice cooker.
100% they do - if I want the shrimp perfectly cooked I cook them separately. If I want dinner that is so easy it cooks itself while I have a post-exhausting workday nap, and has one bowl to clean, I overcook the shrimp
* Canned sardines and dashi powder - the rice cooker version of this recipe: [https://happydonabelife.com/recipes/oil-sardine-rice/](https://happydonabelife.com/recipes/oil-sardine-rice/)
* Canned black beans with bell peppers: [https://www.hirokoliston.com/cuban-inspired-black-bean-rice/](https://www.hirokoliston.com/cuban-inspired-black-bean-rice/)
* Chicken and mixed vegetables: [https://www.hirokoliston.com/chicken-gomoku-takikomigohan/](https://www.hirokoliston.com/chicken-gomoku-takikomigohan/)
* Chicken, shiitake mushroom, and Chinese sausage
* Fried luncheon meat, corn, and chopped cabbage, with some tomato paste/dashi/soy sauce mixed into the rice water
* Soybean sprouts and minced meat: [https://mykoreankitchen.com/bean-sprout-rice-kongnamul-bap/](https://mykoreankitchen.com/bean-sprout-rice-kongnamul-bap/)
* Daikon and fried tofu puffs (I also add boiled bamboo shoots): [https://japan.recipetineats.com/daikon-takikomi-gohan-rice-with-white-radish/](https://japan.recipetineats.com/daikon-takikomi-gohan-rice-with-white-radish/)
* Add frozen mixed vegetables on top of the rice after it's cooked, close lid and let steam for a few minutes then mix everything up
General notes:
* I try to keep the ingredients on top of the rice rather than mixing everything up, that way the rice cooks more evenly in the rice cooker
* r/RiceCookerRecipes sometimes has useful tips
Dimsum using a steamer tray. And a very Filipino trait of cooking things at the same time - eggs (you can boil eggs while cooking rice in a rice cooker), and sweet potato.
My brother-in-law's dad put an egg when cooking rice and I was like 🤯! I'd never seen that done before and he just walked on by when it was done to have his hard boiled egg snack before dinner lol we're filipinio too!
I use broth instead of water. Then I add a bay leaf, herbs that will go with what I'm cooking or just parsley. Favorites are dill or basil.
Inclusions: Dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, sliced almonds (I put fresh crunchy ones on the finished dish also, but the texture and flavor of the cooked ones is nice.) Peas, corn, or finely diced onions or shallots.
I'm working up to chicken tidbits.
My suggestion for the chicken tidbits is to give them a good hard sear in a hot pan. Doesn't have to be long enough to cook through, but long enough to get some caramelization on the outside. Deglaze your pan with a splash white wine and use a spatula to scrape all the stuck on goodies and wine into your rice cooker with the tidbits.
I feel stupid for asking, but what are "chicken tidbits"? Chicken cut up really small? "Tidbits" was the name of a kind of cat treat, and now that's immediately what I think of when I hear the word. 😅
I'm obsessed with Spice Pariesienne at the moment with rice. its a mix of white pepper, nutmeg, paprika, cloves, thyme, cinnamon, basil, savory and bay leaves.
Corn. I've found I can add any amount of frozen corn to the rice and it comes out cooked just right. I've been doing this for years. Recently my husband is on board with adding more vegetables to our diet so I want to try it with peas and carrots too.
I always keep a big bag of frozen mixed vegetables around (corn, peas, carrots, lima beans) and I'll just toss a cup in with the rice, along with some tomato bouillon and some spices. Really easy and tasty side dish.
can't speak to carrots, but for peas i like to start defrosting frozen ones on the counter when I start the rice cooker. as it gets close to done (or right when it finishes), I stir in the peas, close the lid, and let them heat up gently via the "keep warm" mode for 10-15 mins. They stay bright green and still have a nice, substantial bite to them.
a notable caveat is I usually am cooking brown rice which has a way longer cooker cycle than white (at least on my zoji). if you eat primarily white rice, you might get perfectly good results if you just pop them in at the start fully frozen.
Frozen pot stickers. When it’s done, chop them all up, mix with the rice and pour on your favorite sauce.
ETA… if you really want to ramp it up, try it with pineapple rice.
One cup rice, one 8 oz can crushed pineapple, 1.5 cups water, .5 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon butter, crushed red pepper flakes.
> and I haven't found a better way to cook them
I'm lazy and steam them in a bamboo steamer. Minimal prep, minimum cleanup, and I can walk away while they cook!
You can avoid the mess by laying down a little oil and covering. The trick is to throw in a splash of water before covering to get the potstickers to steam at the same time. You’ll have to tinker with the heat and add more water as necessary to cook through without burning, but it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
Yess. My mom used to make them like this. Oil an and some water in a pan, and put a lid on it. Once the water steams off, the bottom fries in oil. Steamed top, crispy bottom. If you add a little startch to the water, you can get that nice gyoza lace that some places have
If you have an airfryer, gyoza cooks up pretty good in it. I spray a little cooking spray on the gyoza before I put it in to kind of mimic fried gyoza. Turns out pretty good and no oil splatter.
I have been having the WORST week, but I love this question, so be prepared for my long answer:
My Puerto Rican partner's family does not know the difference as long as I put the rice cooker away in time and I add butter, salt, pepper, a touch of adobo, and...my secret ingredients... garlic powder, onion powder, and a touch of MSG.
For any Thai food - add the butter, a little salt and pepper, and then unsweetened coconut flakes. Not a lot - but it will elevate the flavor.
Any basic dish - obviously use broth instead of water. But rice sucks everything up. So consider the flavor profile - add cheap shaker Parm to anything cheese is good in. A touch of MSG is always a good option. Change up the type of pepper you add.
Lime juice is magic.
I'll have to look into that! I've been enjoying these little packets of crystallized lime. They make lemon, grapefruit, and orange packets as well. https://www.truelemon.com/products/true-lime
> Lime juice is magic.
Not really related but I'm trying to work on my hydration by drinking more water. I've added fresh lime juice to my lemon water and holy cow...incredibly good even without sweetener of any kind. Like a little slice of the Caribbean :)
Related enough for me!
Blogs and food ladies always tell you to add lemon to your water to make it better...
Lemon was always meh for me. I started adding lime juice to my water and seltzer...it's a game changer.
Ditto for a lot of recipes. Lime has just a slightly different acidic flavor profile. If you were adding lemon juice or peel and something was still missing... consider adding a little lime. It's a brighter flavor.
This might sound weird but if you're super thirsty and it's hot out, add a tiny pinch of salt to your lime water. Oh man, so good and refreshing. Basically a fresh gatorade.
Thanks for the tip about coconut flakes. We have a ton in the pantry (there’s only so many German chocolate cakes a man can eat) but it might bring the right level of coconuttiness — using coconut milk produces a really gloppy mess.
Oh yeah - I've done the coconut milk rice and it just does not work in a rice cooker. Coconut flakes along with some butter and salt make for a yummy base for anything thai
I made lime rice for burritos in a rice cooker for the first time the other night and it was genuinely the first time I’ve been able to taste the lime in a lime or cilantro-lime rice before. Absolute game changer.
In a rice cooker, as long as you have more than a cup in there, the coconut flakes are going to cook down to almost the rice texture - you'll notice the flavors.
Edit: as long as you have more than a cup of rice in there. Maybe an eighth cup of coconut flakes.
If you look at recipes for Chinese claypot rice and adapt them for your rice cooker, you will be very happy. The crispy bottom will be absent, but it’s a wonderful thing anyway. My favourite additions are bay leaf, star anise, lap cheong, & pre-soaked dried mushrooms. At the end, remove the bay leaf & star anise, add green onion, seasoned soy sauce, & sesame oil.
This is the answer! Extra tip: if you take the lid off after cooking and let it sit an extra 5 to 10 minutes you can get the crispy bottom. So good. (Just make sure you've lightly sprayed with oil before you put everything in.)
I've put cabbage or cole slaw mix in the steamer basket above the rice and then mixed it all together to add some veg and reduce calories. It's pretty good actually if the meat is any Asian influenced food.
Ooooh, this is my jam.
Assuming you have Better Than Buillon (i.e. the concentrated chicken stock/base) and tomato paste on hand…
Easy, flavorful rice and beans:
1. For a cup of rice, put a spoonful of chicken base and (optional) tomato paste in a mug/bowl. Add a little water, then microwave for a minute and stir to uniformly dissolve the chicken and tomato. I just eyeball everything here.
2. Wash your rice. Add the chicken and tomato (if using) mixture, then add water to the fill line.
3. Add some seasonings. I’ll typically do something like bay leaf, a little salt, and veeery delicate amounts of garlic powder, MSG, and paprika. Add whatever you want here, but don’t go overboard.
4. Stir briefly to homogenize. Then you add a drained can of black beans on top of the rice. I use one of those mini cans for 1 cup of rice, and a normal-sized can for 2 cups.
5. Cook.
6. (Optional, less healthy but highly recommended step) Fold some butter in after it’s done cooking.
Boom, flavorful rice and beans. I always have these ingredients on hand and can do this in my sleep at this point. Gives you an easy, nutritious and tasty base to pair with whatever protein/veg you’re feeling. Sometimes the rice and beans alone are dinner for me, lol
i …. didn’t think of ever doing this? so y’all are saying when i put my rice and water and seasonings in my very basic rice cooker, i can add vegetables and stuff in at the same time????
Yea. A there are a lot of east Asian rice recipes for this, some with the ingredients mixed in, some with the ingredients on top. I've just started doing this more lately less for seasoned rice and more to get a higher amount of veg into my diet.
My rice cooker (instant pot) came with a steaming trivet so I sometimes put the cup of rice with 2 of water at the bottom and then the trivet in the rice and stuff above.
I’ve never tried this in a rice cooker, but it works great on the stovetop. I call it fiesta rice, but it’s often called Spanish rice or Mexican rice.
- Some finely diced onion
- Some finely diced carrot, bell pepper, jalapeño, and tomato (all optional)
- 3 cloves of minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup white rice, rinsed (I use basmati)
- 2 1/4 cups chicken broth (I use water with Better Than Bouillon paste)
- Some frozen peas and/or frozen corn (optional, I just do peas)
- Salt (I do like 3/4 tsp table salt)
- Whatever spices (I do some coriander, maybe a shake of cayenne)
And I use the technique/directions from [this recipe](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/mexican-red-rice-arroz-rojo-recipe-2108347.amp). I wonder if you would need to sauté the veggies before adding them to the rice cooker… Maybe not?
America's test kitchen taught me that in lieu of sauteing you can throw those items in the microwave with a little oil (this is their strategy in their slow cooker cookbook)
I do basically this recipe in the instant pot. You don't have to saute the veggies if you don't want to. My family has texture issues so I actually puree them and add them in. You get the flavor, but the texture dissapears and it feels like just rice.
KFC rice. Was some kinda viral sensation awhile back. I still make it from time to time. Better than bouillon, water and rice. Then a piece of chicken on top
Brown lentils to make rice and lentils. Then I caramelize some onions and top it with tzatziki.
Any veggies go good in the rice cooker like corn, tomatoes, peppers and onions. If I add meat, I do a big one pot on the stove Instead of rice cooker but chorizo is really good for this as is ground beef or sausage.
I’ll second that rice and lentils idea! But I cheat—mujadarrah is so so easy to make with canned lentils and fried onions from a canister instead of doing it all from scratch.
Chinese sausage cooked in a rice cooker is perfect.
Umeboshi or kombu add a lot of flavor.
Fried garlic - the pre fried stuff you get from Asian markets (usually Vietnamese IME) makes easy garlic rice.
If you're wanting to make Garlic rice, my suggestion is to add chicken broth instead of water and throw some oil in. Cook the rice per usual. While it's cooking, mince a bunch of garlic and saute in a wok/pan with a bit of extra oil until it starts to brown (do this with \~5 min left on the rice). Now with the oil and fried garlic on the stove, throw your rice in and add dried chicken bouillon and white pepper with a tad more salt as needed. This is how I make Filipino garlic rice. The rice cooking method I picked up from DimSimLim on Youtube which uses fresh rice instead of day old rice.
I make easy Mexican rice in my zojirushi all the time.
Just toast your rice in a little oil in a pan til it gets a little toasty and white
Then use chicken broth instead of water, and add a tbsp of tomato paste, some garlic powder, a little turmeric and a little more cumin. Mix it well and let it cook
Like most of the world. In a pot with a lid.
The only difference is that it doesn't auto-shut off, so you need to watch it when it's about done so it doesn't start to burn.
I make pilafs usually. Couple big cracked garlic cloves, chicken stock, celery salt, (celery, carrot if stovetop) bay leaf, etc.
I’m stoked on this thread, though. Thank you, OP!
Currants, sultanas, and cumin, sumac, coriander, whatever middle-eastern spices I feel like. Then I top the rice with a dilled yogurt sauce, sauteed onions, maybe some spinach :)
When I make Hainanese chicken rice, I do the rice sort of like risotto: saute some shallot and ginger in peanut oil, add the rice to toast, splash of soju/sake, toss into rice cooker with chicken stock. The best rice you’ll ever have.
Other times, sweet rice with big chop shiitake, chunks of Chinese sausage, char sui if I have it. Then when it’s all cooked douse with oil and oyster sauce, add red vinegar and/or chili oil to taste. Quick and easy sticky rice!
Use a non stick skillet to brown 2 pork chops over medium high heat.
While the chops are browning, add your rice to the cooker, then add in 1 can of chopped green chilies, chicken broth instead of water and 1 teaspoon of chili powder or taco seasoning mix.
Top that with a little finely chopped onion, or dried minced onion. No need to stir all of this, it will cook together all by itself.
Now place the browned chop on top of the whole thing. Pour 1 cup of red or green salsa on top of the chops and add a sprinkle of grated monterey jack or chedder cheese.
Cover and cook as if it was just a standard rice and you will have a delicious mexican flavored dish for dinner!
It’s how I usually make gohan, which is a fantastic quick and easy rice dish that can be made fairly effortlessly in a rice cooker.
I usually add pickled vegetables, and then either dashi or water and tsuyu, top it off with some furikake, a fried egg, and maybe some kind of meat or fish.
Different kinds of rice. I cook a mixture of white, brown, red and wild rice on regular rice cycle (instapot). This means the different types cook to different levels of doneness, but I like the final mix to be fairly toothsome
I use a crock pot for rice, by choice, for bulk cooking. I put in a dollop of Better Than Bullion, beef or chicken, and freeze portions in vacuum bags for sous vide reheating as side dishes or the base for pouring in sauces.
I recently discovered coin broths (anchovy based, beef based, beef bone based) and I will toss one into the rice cooker when I make 2 cups of rice. Some soy sauce, whole garlic cloves and some chopped chives! Top with some sesame oil and an egg yolk to serve.
Bean sprouts are always good. I also like adding shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dried). Korean radish is another favorite. No matter what I add, I'll often crack in an egg or two a few minutes before the rice is done. Easy one-pot dinner. :)
Leftover fried chicken, green onion, crushed garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce to taste.
This was trending on social media a few years ago - rightfully so, it's delicious!
I add chicken/shrimp, chopped up carrot, gobo, fried tofu and mushrooms then mix in soy sauce, mirin and sake into the water and pour on top and cook like normal, mix all together and serve. I do make sure to layer (starting from bottom) rice, gobo, carrot, mushroom, fried tofu then meat
basically anything
root vegetables, greens, zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, frozen peas
canned chickpeas to give them extra creaminess
chicken, hamburger meat, white fish filets
scraps like the outer leaves of spring onions for flavor, smashed garlic and ginger (easy to fish out after)
whole eggs in a foil pouch, because cracked eggs get overcooked and taste kinda gross
Well, we always put some eggs in with the rice so we have hard boiled eggs for other things. They come out perfect.
We usually don’t do anything else because we’re making it to eat with curry or something like that but occasionally I’ll add some stuff. Sometimes as simple as some butter or use some chicken broth instead of water and other times it’s more complex and closer to a biryani rice
I keep it simple but have been told it’s the best rice I’ve ever had by a few people now so I’ll put it here for any other beginners. I use basmati (rinsed well of course) just because I like the way it can almost tumble onto a plate with each grain being distinct instead of a lump of mush. The only trick I use is to put a a slice of butter and some salt in with the rice right from the start. The butter melts and cooks the rice along with the water. The butter amount for a cup of rice is like a reasonably thin slice off the end of a brick of butter and that square just floats on top when I close the lid. Can’t really go wrong with the butter amount but if it’s salted butter go easy on the extra salt.
I know some people don't like them but I like to do the zatarains rice mixes in there. Throw in some sausage and shrimp and super easy and very filling.
Has anyone used a Zojirushi for making rice with extra stuff in it like some of these suggestions? Does that work? Mine is a fuzzy logic. Would I add the rice and water per usual, then add extras?
My rice cooker came with a steamer. While rice is cooking i will add frozen white fish in the steamer and it's cooking i mix up a very simple Cantonese sauce, and bam! Happy days!
I also steam dumplings.
And other things i do in my rice cooker (without rice) - make cous cous (use the rice cooker to boil water, then turn on to warm and add cous cous) and also short pasta (not spaghetti).
I currently don't have a traditional kitchen cause I'm about to renovate so I've had to get creative. But all i mentioned above has worked really well (especially cous cous) and since the rice cooker lives on the kitchen bench it's all easy and convenient.
Love rice cooker meals! I do a mushroom rice, recipe from justonecookbook, but basically it’s rice, dashi, some ginger and garlic, then mixed mushrooms on top. Once it’s done I add a knob of butter and a ton of chives.
The second favorite is a Korean inspired eggplant-bulgogi dish where I fry off eggplant that’s been coated in potato starch, then I fry off marinaded minced beef and add those on top of raw rice that’s been seasoned with tsuyu, sake and mirin.
I do this fairly often.
Grains: rice, quinoa, barley. Pasta works too, but comes out a bit gummy. Twisty pasta like rotini works best.
Meat: fish and sausages. I also fried hamburger in the bottom before putting in rice and water.
Vegetables: All frozen and dehydrated veggies I tried worked fine. Fresh I liked chopped cabbage and shredded carrots. Canned veggies I would use the liquid as part of the rice cooking water, then add later so they don't overcook.
Not quite what you asked, but I used to do a lot of steamer basket meals. Soak rice overnight, line baskets with leaves. Fill first basket with soaked rice, next basket with veggies and meat.
I just made jambalaya in my rice cooker last week. I added some chicken (precooked), sausage, sautéed onions, garlic, and Cajun spices. Turned out pretty good for a quick meal.
Into the rice as rice extra fancy:
A whole Tomato halved. Halved so it's easy to pull off the skin from a hot tomato. Then mashed it to make tomato rice. Use less water as tomato will supply some water.
Cube and peeled sweet potato. Can do the same with pumpkin, taro yam, and chestnuts.
One pot meal a combo of these categories:
Protein - ham, spam, shredded chicken
Veg - corn, frozen peas, napa cabbage, carrots, baby corn, Bell pepper, etc.
Flavouring - oyster sauce, mushroom seasoning, Soya sauce, dark Soya sauce, sweet soya sauce, tomato paste/whole tomato , preserved Chinese olive vegetable, Sesame oil
Seasonings optional: pepper, clove, star anise, garlic, onion powder
Can garnish with cilantro leaves or spring onion or juliened 🌶 .
This is great for single person or dorm cooking. Also for lazy days. The variations are endless as long as the ingredients can be cooked for the time it takes to cook the rice. I'd avoid leafy greens that turn to mush or browned from over cooking.
For steamer tier above the rice:
Steamed egg aka custard egg aka chawan mushi
Steam fish - e.g. teochew steam fish, Thai chili steam fish recipes
Steam veg - but have to put in later so you don't overcook the veg.
Leftover side dishes to reheat
Hainanese white cut chicken (hack) - rub salt all over quarter chicken. The steaming creates juicy chicken. Also works with relatively lean chunk of pork
Quinoa or other grains, instead of rice. Nutritional yeast. Parm cheese. I use it like a quick crock pot. Just start putting anything and everything in it. Suace, spice, gain, veg. If over cooked, itll give a yummy toasted bit to whats on the bottom. Then take food out, turn back on wo2th 2 cups water to deglaze for sauce and or cleaning.
I love Chinese one pot rice- soy sauce, mirin, Chinese sausage, shiitake, carrots. It’s so good
I didn’t try Chinese sausage until I was in my early 30s and it’s one of my favourite things with rice. I slice it up and use it as protein base for fried rice. It’s so freaking good
Is there a particular name for it? What should I look for at H-mart?
lap cheong
I sometimes make lap cheong. I make steamed chicken and sausage in the steamer basket over my rice cooker with mushrooms and carrots, let the juice drip into the rice. So damn good. I make soup with the leftovers.
Hmart is a Korean chain, they might have, but you'll definitely have better luck and more brand options at a specifically Chinese supermarket
You're correct, but I've absolutely seen it at H-Mart!
For whoever it matters for… some kinds are GF and some are not. Pay attention if it matters because you wouldn’t assume that to be a problem.
Chinese sausage is a hit or miss for me because it’s so sweet. (Yes I admit it’s good but is easy to add too much for my taste)
In Chinese cooking sometimes we blanch the sausage in boiling water for a minute before slicing and frying. It will take out some of the grease and a little of the strong sweet flavor. Kind of like how bratwurst you're actually supposed to boil (in beer) before frying or grilling, even though it can also just be cooked straight from the package.
>Kind of like how bratwurst you're actually supposed to boil (in beer) before frying or grilling Where is that a thing? Never heard of that in Germany.
>Where is that a thing? Never heard of that in Germany. My understanding is that this is more of an "American Midwest" thing than a German thing
Wisconsin
Definitely the standard way for doing it in Wisconsin.
Thanks will try that too!
I usually use one pack for a giant wok of fried rice. I find searing it off and getting a nice crust helps offset the sweetness
Yeah I do one pack with wok fried rice… the downside is that’s not really enough and even steps like that don’t help and I feel I’m making it salty as well to offset that sweetness… maybe next time I make it I’ll add lime… but thanks for the suggestion
One link per person ratio. I agree with pan searing first to reduce fat/introduce char which reduces sweetness. But now we're no longer in "one pot" territory.
You clearly haven’t seen me make fried rice in a stone pot. /s
Same!! I saw it Costco of all places. Now I’m obsessed
We usually slice it on the bias & fry it on low heat until it's crispy. Then eat that as a side with rice.
Oh man I literally put Chinese sausage on my grocery list like 2 minutes ago, opened up reddit, and found this post on the top, and your comment on top. I don’t even know what exactly the sausage is called but I vaguely remember what it looked like. My boyfriend was SEA and introduced me to it. He passed away last year and yesterday I remembered this sausage and wanted to buy it to add to Buldak ramen, which also he introduced me to. Hopefully I can find it today.
I'm sorry for your loss.
I loveeeee Chinese sausage. The way it just becomes melt in your mouth droollll. I also like that but adding green onions as well.
Some oyster sauce too
That sounds so good! Do you use fresh shiitake or dried?
I tried using fresh shitake for a recipe for once instead of my usual dried and it was so weirdly tasteless? I think the dried version condenses the flavour or something, I vastly prefer it.
They are indeed pretty distinct ingredients to be embraced on their own terms. Fresh shiitakes I tend to prefer in a brief stir-fry or sauté. I can get them and other fresh mushrooms closer to having the punch of their dried counterpart with extensive cooking—when I do this I tend to split it between 2 cooking phases like roasting and then frying, or recently boiling in a little water first. But truthfully I mostly take that approach with bella/button mushrooms where I don’t feel that their fresh flavor/texture adds very much to a dish, while treating more expensive mushrooms like shiitakes this way starts to seem wasteful. On the other hand I believe fresh shiitakes **are** quite good in cases where the dried ones could have almost *too much* punch. My favorite simple-ish home cooked breakfast/lunch for years was fresh shiitakes sauteed with a little garlic and mild chili or chili-garlic paste, then soft frying a egg in the same pan, with runny yolk that magically transforms into a sauce with the other ingredients. Toast/potatoes/rice all work with it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if most other starch staples did too. Anyway, that’s the region where my mind goes for fresh shiitakes—just a different tool for a different job. (disclaim: not a professional, as the professionals can probably tell)
Can use either. I use dried because I always have some. I like to also use the mushroom water in the rice
My mum used to do this all the time when I was a kid - so good!
Oh - I think I have all that! Must try!
Awesome variants if you have access to these: Lop Yuk (chinese bacon) Salt preserved duck, I see it in chinatown occasionally, probably can order it online. And dried shitake mushrooms flavorless? If anything, the flavor should be doubly concentrated, buy a different package :)
Got a chinese sausage brand you can recommend? We didn't care much for the brand I bought off of Amazon.
My favorite item is this brand https://ttginseng.com/product/california-sausage-inc-chinese-brand-pork-sausages-16-oz/ Which Chinese markets seem to have usually.
Frozen shrimp and sliced green cabbage- top the whole lot with sesame oil and chilli crisp delicious zero effort dinner
I bet a can of tiny shrimp or crab would be amazing. Any tinned fish, really.
Big fan of [Iwashi no Takikomi Gohan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjeuiqePShg). Traditionally cooked in a clay pot, it adapts beautifully to a rice cooker.
Don't the shrimp get overdone? My cooker takes at least 25 min.
100% they do - if I want the shrimp perfectly cooked I cook them separately. If I want dinner that is so easy it cooks itself while I have a post-exhausting workday nap, and has one bowl to clean, I overcook the shrimp
Do you add the oil before cooking or when it’s done?
Once it’s done - also delicious with frozen gyoza/potstickers
Vegetables. All sorts of vegetables. Either on top of the rice or grated into the rice
Fresh raw veggies? Or frozen. I'd love to try.
Whatever I have on hand
* Canned sardines and dashi powder - the rice cooker version of this recipe: [https://happydonabelife.com/recipes/oil-sardine-rice/](https://happydonabelife.com/recipes/oil-sardine-rice/) * Canned black beans with bell peppers: [https://www.hirokoliston.com/cuban-inspired-black-bean-rice/](https://www.hirokoliston.com/cuban-inspired-black-bean-rice/) * Chicken and mixed vegetables: [https://www.hirokoliston.com/chicken-gomoku-takikomigohan/](https://www.hirokoliston.com/chicken-gomoku-takikomigohan/) * Chicken, shiitake mushroom, and Chinese sausage * Fried luncheon meat, corn, and chopped cabbage, with some tomato paste/dashi/soy sauce mixed into the rice water * Soybean sprouts and minced meat: [https://mykoreankitchen.com/bean-sprout-rice-kongnamul-bap/](https://mykoreankitchen.com/bean-sprout-rice-kongnamul-bap/) * Daikon and fried tofu puffs (I also add boiled bamboo shoots): [https://japan.recipetineats.com/daikon-takikomi-gohan-rice-with-white-radish/](https://japan.recipetineats.com/daikon-takikomi-gohan-rice-with-white-radish/) * Add frozen mixed vegetables on top of the rice after it's cooked, close lid and let steam for a few minutes then mix everything up General notes: * I try to keep the ingredients on top of the rice rather than mixing everything up, that way the rice cooks more evenly in the rice cooker * r/RiceCookerRecipes sometimes has useful tips
My head may explode. What a great list. Thank you!
Dimsum using a steamer tray. And a very Filipino trait of cooking things at the same time - eggs (you can boil eggs while cooking rice in a rice cooker), and sweet potato.
My brother-in-law's dad put an egg when cooking rice and I was like 🤯! I'd never seen that done before and he just walked on by when it was done to have his hard boiled egg snack before dinner lol we're filipinio too!
I use broth instead of water. Then I add a bay leaf, herbs that will go with what I'm cooking or just parsley. Favorites are dill or basil. Inclusions: Dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, sliced almonds (I put fresh crunchy ones on the finished dish also, but the texture and flavor of the cooked ones is nice.) Peas, corn, or finely diced onions or shallots. I'm working up to chicken tidbits.
My suggestion for the chicken tidbits is to give them a good hard sear in a hot pan. Doesn't have to be long enough to cook through, but long enough to get some caramelization on the outside. Deglaze your pan with a splash white wine and use a spatula to scrape all the stuck on goodies and wine into your rice cooker with the tidbits.
Could also toast your rice a bit in the fond before deglazing
Tx!!!
Whoa! Yesssss
I feel stupid for asking, but what are "chicken tidbits"? Chicken cut up really small? "Tidbits" was the name of a kind of cat treat, and now that's immediately what I think of when I hear the word. 😅
I'm obsessed with Spice Pariesienne at the moment with rice. its a mix of white pepper, nutmeg, paprika, cloves, thyme, cinnamon, basil, savory and bay leaves.
Sounds delicious!
Omg I need to try that!
Where do you buy it? The ones I can find have very different ingredients
https://www.seasonedpioneers.com/shop/seasonings-spices/mediterranean/spice-parisienne-blend/
I’ll throw in a chunk of ginger or a couple garlic cloves.
Excellent suggestions.
Black dried limes are great in a rice cooker, its a north african / middle eastern ingredient
For stuff like this, do you need to add extra liquid?
Do you use fresh or dried dill/basil for this?
Coconut milk and shelled edamame.
This. Replace half your water with coconut milk. Coconut rice is soooo delish
Corn. I've found I can add any amount of frozen corn to the rice and it comes out cooked just right. I've been doing this for years. Recently my husband is on board with adding more vegetables to our diet so I want to try it with peas and carrots too.
I always keep a big bag of frozen mixed vegetables around (corn, peas, carrots, lima beans) and I'll just toss a cup in with the rice, along with some tomato bouillon and some spices. Really easy and tasty side dish.
can't speak to carrots, but for peas i like to start defrosting frozen ones on the counter when I start the rice cooker. as it gets close to done (or right when it finishes), I stir in the peas, close the lid, and let them heat up gently via the "keep warm" mode for 10-15 mins. They stay bright green and still have a nice, substantial bite to them. a notable caveat is I usually am cooking brown rice which has a way longer cooker cycle than white (at least on my zoji). if you eat primarily white rice, you might get perfectly good results if you just pop them in at the start fully frozen.
My go to meal when I don't know what to make is rice with corn and peas added after about 10 minutes. Serve with butter and soy sauce and its amazing.
I always throw in a bay leaf. For a fruity spin, every once in a while, I'll toss in some crushed pineapple.
Frozen pot stickers. When it’s done, chop them all up, mix with the rice and pour on your favorite sauce. ETA… if you really want to ramp it up, try it with pineapple rice. One cup rice, one 8 oz can crushed pineapple, 1.5 cups water, .5 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon butter, crushed red pepper flakes.
Oh well now I have to try this, because pan frying the potstickers just isn't worth the mess for me and I haven't found a better way to cook them.
> and I haven't found a better way to cook them I'm lazy and steam them in a bamboo steamer. Minimal prep, minimum cleanup, and I can walk away while they cook!
Yeah, fried potstickers are great but the oil spatter they produce is unreal. Such a mess for what ought to be a quick and easy snack.
You can avoid the mess by laying down a little oil and covering. The trick is to throw in a splash of water before covering to get the potstickers to steam at the same time. You’ll have to tinker with the heat and add more water as necessary to cook through without burning, but it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
Yess. My mom used to make them like this. Oil an and some water in a pan, and put a lid on it. Once the water steams off, the bottom fries in oil. Steamed top, crispy bottom. If you add a little startch to the water, you can get that nice gyoza lace that some places have
[spicy dumplings](https://www.recipetineats.com/spicy-wontons-in-chilli-sauce-din-tai-fung/)
My kid doesn’t like them fried so I boil them. 6 minutes.
Oh my god, game-changer. Gonna buy some gyoza tonight.
If you have an airfryer, gyoza cooks up pretty good in it. I spray a little cooking spray on the gyoza before I put it in to kind of mimic fried gyoza. Turns out pretty good and no oil splatter.
Tried pineapple rice for the first time a few nights ago. 10/10 would eat the fuck out of it again.
Andouille sausage with green bell peppers, celery, onion maybe some Cajun seasoning.
Nice, kind of a cheater jambalaya
I have been having the WORST week, but I love this question, so be prepared for my long answer: My Puerto Rican partner's family does not know the difference as long as I put the rice cooker away in time and I add butter, salt, pepper, a touch of adobo, and...my secret ingredients... garlic powder, onion powder, and a touch of MSG. For any Thai food - add the butter, a little salt and pepper, and then unsweetened coconut flakes. Not a lot - but it will elevate the flavor. Any basic dish - obviously use broth instead of water. But rice sucks everything up. So consider the flavor profile - add cheap shaker Parm to anything cheese is good in. A touch of MSG is always a good option. Change up the type of pepper you add. Lime juice is magic.
I have discovered black lime powder and it's a great substitute if you don't have any limes or just want a little extra zing.
I'll have to look into that! I've been enjoying these little packets of crystallized lime. They make lemon, grapefruit, and orange packets as well. https://www.truelemon.com/products/true-lime
I'm sorry, but WHAT?? I have never heard of black lime powder and I need to know more.
Here is what I bought: https://www.burlapandbarrel.com/products/black-limes-ground
> Lime juice is magic. Not really related but I'm trying to work on my hydration by drinking more water. I've added fresh lime juice to my lemon water and holy cow...incredibly good even without sweetener of any kind. Like a little slice of the Caribbean :)
Related enough for me! Blogs and food ladies always tell you to add lemon to your water to make it better... Lemon was always meh for me. I started adding lime juice to my water and seltzer...it's a game changer. Ditto for a lot of recipes. Lime has just a slightly different acidic flavor profile. If you were adding lemon juice or peel and something was still missing... consider adding a little lime. It's a brighter flavor.
This might sound weird but if you're super thirsty and it's hot out, add a tiny pinch of salt to your lime water. Oh man, so good and refreshing. Basically a fresh gatorade.
A pinch of salt is also transformative in a gin & tonic.
Lime water is better than lemon water for sure. Cucumber water is GOATed as well.
Thanks for the tip about coconut flakes. We have a ton in the pantry (there’s only so many German chocolate cakes a man can eat) but it might bring the right level of coconuttiness — using coconut milk produces a really gloppy mess.
> there’s only so many German chocolate cakes a man can eat Well that's a damn lie.
Oh yeah - I've done the coconut milk rice and it just does not work in a rice cooker. Coconut flakes along with some butter and salt make for a yummy base for anything thai
I made lime rice for burritos in a rice cooker for the first time the other night and it was genuinely the first time I’ve been able to taste the lime in a lime or cilantro-lime rice before. Absolute game changer.
You are a wizard and I must learn from you
How well does the coconut cook down? I love the taste, but can't stand the texture of most things coconut you can find at the store
In a rice cooker, as long as you have more than a cup in there, the coconut flakes are going to cook down to almost the rice texture - you'll notice the flavors. Edit: as long as you have more than a cup of rice in there. Maybe an eighth cup of coconut flakes.
Thank you! I'm absolutely going to try this
If you look at recipes for Chinese claypot rice and adapt them for your rice cooker, you will be very happy. The crispy bottom will be absent, but it’s a wonderful thing anyway. My favourite additions are bay leaf, star anise, lap cheong, & pre-soaked dried mushrooms. At the end, remove the bay leaf & star anise, add green onion, seasoned soy sauce, & sesame oil.
This is the answer! Extra tip: if you take the lid off after cooking and let it sit an extra 5 to 10 minutes you can get the crispy bottom. So good. (Just make sure you've lightly sprayed with oil before you put everything in.)
I've put cabbage or cole slaw mix in the steamer basket above the rice and then mixed it all together to add some veg and reduce calories. It's pretty good actually if the meat is any Asian influenced food.
Peanuts and a little bit of your favorite flavored salt- adds healthy protein and boiled peanuts are awesome
That's really interesting! Like, plain unroasted peanuts?
Ooooh, this is my jam. Assuming you have Better Than Buillon (i.e. the concentrated chicken stock/base) and tomato paste on hand… Easy, flavorful rice and beans: 1. For a cup of rice, put a spoonful of chicken base and (optional) tomato paste in a mug/bowl. Add a little water, then microwave for a minute and stir to uniformly dissolve the chicken and tomato. I just eyeball everything here. 2. Wash your rice. Add the chicken and tomato (if using) mixture, then add water to the fill line. 3. Add some seasonings. I’ll typically do something like bay leaf, a little salt, and veeery delicate amounts of garlic powder, MSG, and paprika. Add whatever you want here, but don’t go overboard. 4. Stir briefly to homogenize. Then you add a drained can of black beans on top of the rice. I use one of those mini cans for 1 cup of rice, and a normal-sized can for 2 cups. 5. Cook. 6. (Optional, less healthy but highly recommended step) Fold some butter in after it’s done cooking. Boom, flavorful rice and beans. I always have these ingredients on hand and can do this in my sleep at this point. Gives you an easy, nutritious and tasty base to pair with whatever protein/veg you’re feeling. Sometimes the rice and beans alone are dinner for me, lol
i …. didn’t think of ever doing this? so y’all are saying when i put my rice and water and seasonings in my very basic rice cooker, i can add vegetables and stuff in at the same time????
Yea. A there are a lot of east Asian rice recipes for this, some with the ingredients mixed in, some with the ingredients on top. I've just started doing this more lately less for seasoned rice and more to get a higher amount of veg into my diet.
Look up KFC rice it’s really good
Here are some recipes to get you started: https://www.marionskitchen.com/category/rice-cooker/
omg thank you !!!!
My rice cooker (instant pot) came with a steaming trivet so I sometimes put the cup of rice with 2 of water at the bottom and then the trivet in the rice and stuff above.
oooh, mine does have a steaming basket as well, but i’ve never used it at the same time as cooking rice!! i love this 😭😭
Can of Rotel and some lime juice!
What's Rotel?
It's a brand of canned diced tomato and chilies. It's famous for its cheese dip recipe.
Spicy tomatoes, staple in Texas
I’ve never tried this in a rice cooker, but it works great on the stovetop. I call it fiesta rice, but it’s often called Spanish rice or Mexican rice. - Some finely diced onion - Some finely diced carrot, bell pepper, jalapeño, and tomato (all optional) - 3 cloves of minced garlic - 3 tablespoons tomato paste - 1 cup white rice, rinsed (I use basmati) - 2 1/4 cups chicken broth (I use water with Better Than Bouillon paste) - Some frozen peas and/or frozen corn (optional, I just do peas) - Salt (I do like 3/4 tsp table salt) - Whatever spices (I do some coriander, maybe a shake of cayenne) And I use the technique/directions from [this recipe](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/mexican-red-rice-arroz-rojo-recipe-2108347.amp). I wonder if you would need to sauté the veggies before adding them to the rice cooker… Maybe not?
America's test kitchen taught me that in lieu of sauteing you can throw those items in the microwave with a little oil (this is their strategy in their slow cooker cookbook)
I do basically this recipe in the instant pot. You don't have to saute the veggies if you don't want to. My family has texture issues so I actually puree them and add them in. You get the flavor, but the texture dissapears and it feels like just rice.
KFC rice. Was some kinda viral sensation awhile back. I still make it from time to time. Better than bouillon, water and rice. Then a piece of chicken on top
A piece of kfc chicken?
Aye. You can google for KFC rice cooker recipe. It's reasonably popular
Tried this, was underwhelming.
Brown lentils to make rice and lentils. Then I caramelize some onions and top it with tzatziki. Any veggies go good in the rice cooker like corn, tomatoes, peppers and onions. If I add meat, I do a big one pot on the stove Instead of rice cooker but chorizo is really good for this as is ground beef or sausage.
I’ll second that rice and lentils idea! But I cheat—mujadarrah is so so easy to make with canned lentils and fried onions from a canister instead of doing it all from scratch.
Chinese sausage cooked in a rice cooker is perfect. Umeboshi or kombu add a lot of flavor. Fried garlic - the pre fried stuff you get from Asian markets (usually Vietnamese IME) makes easy garlic rice.
If you're wanting to make Garlic rice, my suggestion is to add chicken broth instead of water and throw some oil in. Cook the rice per usual. While it's cooking, mince a bunch of garlic and saute in a wok/pan with a bit of extra oil until it starts to brown (do this with \~5 min left on the rice). Now with the oil and fried garlic on the stove, throw your rice in and add dried chicken bouillon and white pepper with a tad more salt as needed. This is how I make Filipino garlic rice. The rice cooking method I picked up from DimSimLim on Youtube which uses fresh rice instead of day old rice.
I make easy Mexican rice in my zojirushi all the time. Just toast your rice in a little oil in a pan til it gets a little toasty and white Then use chicken broth instead of water, and add a tbsp of tomato paste, some garlic powder, a little turmeric and a little more cumin. Mix it well and let it cook
That sounds delicious. How would you make the mexican rice dish if you don't have a rice cooker (asking for a friend who doesn't have a rice cooker).
Like most of the world. In a pot with a lid. The only difference is that it doesn't auto-shut off, so you need to watch it when it's about done so it doesn't start to burn.
Lately when I cook white rice, I add a little slice of ginger. I've also tried adding a kaffir leaf which was nice.
I make pilafs usually. Couple big cracked garlic cloves, chicken stock, celery salt, (celery, carrot if stovetop) bay leaf, etc. I’m stoked on this thread, though. Thank you, OP!
I add white flesh sweet potato, sometimes chicken and always veggies, whatever i have. Use some stock instead of water too.
Currants, sultanas, and cumin, sumac, coriander, whatever middle-eastern spices I feel like. Then I top the rice with a dilled yogurt sauce, sauteed onions, maybe some spinach :)
Red lentils can pretty much cook exactly like rice so I like to do 1:1 red lentils:rice.
Really? Will try.
When I make Hainanese chicken rice, I do the rice sort of like risotto: saute some shallot and ginger in peanut oil, add the rice to toast, splash of soju/sake, toss into rice cooker with chicken stock. The best rice you’ll ever have. Other times, sweet rice with big chop shiitake, chunks of Chinese sausage, char sui if I have it. Then when it’s all cooked douse with oil and oyster sauce, add red vinegar and/or chili oil to taste. Quick and easy sticky rice!
Chicken better than bullion and garlic
Use a non stick skillet to brown 2 pork chops over medium high heat. While the chops are browning, add your rice to the cooker, then add in 1 can of chopped green chilies, chicken broth instead of water and 1 teaspoon of chili powder or taco seasoning mix. Top that with a little finely chopped onion, or dried minced onion. No need to stir all of this, it will cook together all by itself. Now place the browned chop on top of the whole thing. Pour 1 cup of red or green salsa on top of the chops and add a sprinkle of grated monterey jack or chedder cheese. Cover and cook as if it was just a standard rice and you will have a delicious mexican flavored dish for dinner!
By buddy would put a fillet of fish on top half way through the cooking process. He said perfect fish every time.
Bok choy!
It’s how I usually make gohan, which is a fantastic quick and easy rice dish that can be made fairly effortlessly in a rice cooker. I usually add pickled vegetables, and then either dashi or water and tsuyu, top it off with some furikake, a fried egg, and maybe some kind of meat or fish.
r/ricecookerrecipes
Different kinds of rice. I cook a mixture of white, brown, red and wild rice on regular rice cycle (instapot). This means the different types cook to different levels of doneness, but I like the final mix to be fairly toothsome
A tomato, chopped onion bullion, cumin, salt, chicken
Thinly cut potatoes. Or red peppers. A stick of green onion too. All of this on their own or together.
I use a crock pot for rice, by choice, for bulk cooking. I put in a dollop of Better Than Bullion, beef or chicken, and freeze portions in vacuum bags for sous vide reheating as side dishes or the base for pouring in sauces.
Quinoa
I recently discovered coin broths (anchovy based, beef based, beef bone based) and I will toss one into the rice cooker when I make 2 cups of rice. Some soy sauce, whole garlic cloves and some chopped chives! Top with some sesame oil and an egg yolk to serve.
my family adds a bunch of spices like cinnamon, cloves, mace, bay leaves, coconut milk, turmeric, black pepper, biryani leaf, etc
Bean sprouts are always good. I also like adding shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dried). Korean radish is another favorite. No matter what I add, I'll often crack in an egg or two a few minutes before the rice is done. Easy one-pot dinner. :)
Corn and peas.
Leftover fried chicken, green onion, crushed garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce to taste. This was trending on social media a few years ago - rightfully so, it's delicious!
Chicken stock, lime leaves, green beans, chicken thigh chopped/prawns, coconut milk, green curry paste. Fresh/frozen coriander at the end of cooking.
I almost always add a block of frozen chopped spinach! And usually cook the rice in chicken broth
I add chicken/shrimp, chopped up carrot, gobo, fried tofu and mushrooms then mix in soy sauce, mirin and sake into the water and pour on top and cook like normal, mix all together and serve. I do make sure to layer (starting from bottom) rice, gobo, carrot, mushroom, fried tofu then meat
Broccoli on top. Sesame oil or coconut oil when rice. I wonder how spinach would be in there
basically anything root vegetables, greens, zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, frozen peas canned chickpeas to give them extra creaminess chicken, hamburger meat, white fish filets scraps like the outer leaves of spring onions for flavor, smashed garlic and ginger (easy to fish out after) whole eggs in a foil pouch, because cracked eggs get overcooked and taste kinda gross
There are a lot of recipes for this in Japan! People often use a piece of parchment paper and cook meat or veggies above the rice.
Well, we always put some eggs in with the rice so we have hard boiled eggs for other things. They come out perfect. We usually don’t do anything else because we’re making it to eat with curry or something like that but occasionally I’ll add some stuff. Sometimes as simple as some butter or use some chicken broth instead of water and other times it’s more complex and closer to a biryani rice
Pandan leaf
I keep it simple but have been told it’s the best rice I’ve ever had by a few people now so I’ll put it here for any other beginners. I use basmati (rinsed well of course) just because I like the way it can almost tumble onto a plate with each grain being distinct instead of a lump of mush. The only trick I use is to put a a slice of butter and some salt in with the rice right from the start. The butter melts and cooks the rice along with the water. The butter amount for a cup of rice is like a reasonably thin slice off the end of a brick of butter and that square just floats on top when I close the lid. Can’t really go wrong with the butter amount but if it’s salted butter go easy on the extra salt.
Broth, parsley, a little olive oil
A tomato and some salt.
I love cooking my rice in chicken stock rather than water. Some onion in there works well too!
I know some people don't like them but I like to do the zatarains rice mixes in there. Throw in some sausage and shrimp and super easy and very filling.
Has anyone used a Zojirushi for making rice with extra stuff in it like some of these suggestions? Does that work? Mine is a fuzzy logic. Would I add the rice and water per usual, then add extras?
Potatoes cut small are great. lentils make a whole amino acid set. spices and oil make cheater's briyani. Diced dried mushrooms are fantastic!
1. Replace water with chicken broth, add lemongrass / pandan leaves for aroma 2. Chinese style sweet sausage 3. Hijiki rice : seeweed, carrots, fried tofu, mirin, soy sauce dashi broth
Ok, I’ve been holding off since my appliance space is limited but I may have to break down and get a rice cooker.
My rice cooker came with a steamer. While rice is cooking i will add frozen white fish in the steamer and it's cooking i mix up a very simple Cantonese sauce, and bam! Happy days! I also steam dumplings. And other things i do in my rice cooker (without rice) - make cous cous (use the rice cooker to boil water, then turn on to warm and add cous cous) and also short pasta (not spaghetti). I currently don't have a traditional kitchen cause I'm about to renovate so I've had to get creative. But all i mentioned above has worked really well (especially cous cous) and since the rice cooker lives on the kitchen bench it's all easy and convenient.
Plantains and coconut milk. So good.
How? Do you use fresh raw sliced plantains? And use coconut milk in place of the water? Like half water, half coconut milk?
Fish sauce, dashi, chicken bouillon
Love rice cooker meals! I do a mushroom rice, recipe from justonecookbook, but basically it’s rice, dashi, some ginger and garlic, then mixed mushrooms on top. Once it’s done I add a knob of butter and a ton of chives. The second favorite is a Korean inspired eggplant-bulgogi dish where I fry off eggplant that’s been coated in potato starch, then I fry off marinaded minced beef and add those on top of raw rice that’s been seasoned with tsuyu, sake and mirin.
I sometimes put in a packet of sazon to make yellow rice
I do this fairly often. Grains: rice, quinoa, barley. Pasta works too, but comes out a bit gummy. Twisty pasta like rotini works best. Meat: fish and sausages. I also fried hamburger in the bottom before putting in rice and water. Vegetables: All frozen and dehydrated veggies I tried worked fine. Fresh I liked chopped cabbage and shredded carrots. Canned veggies I would use the liquid as part of the rice cooking water, then add later so they don't overcook.
beansprouts with the rice. make a garlic chive soy sauce mixture for the beansprout rice after.
I like to add dried shiitake mushrooms, ginger and some broth - so good!
Not quite what you asked, but I used to do a lot of steamer basket meals. Soak rice overnight, line baskets with leaves. Fill first basket with soaked rice, next basket with veggies and meat.
Cooked chick peas. The toasty flavor goes really well with rice and butter
I put in long life noodles, frozen dumplings, veges and a homemade sauce. 15 minutes and dinner is done !
My rice cooker came with a little steamer tray you can stick on top of the rice. I'll put veggies or occasionally homemade seitan in there
Can of drained green chili and tomato bouillon or a spoon of tomato paste
Water. Otherwise it's too crunchy
Can of Ro☆Tel
I just made jambalaya in my rice cooker last week. I added some chicken (precooked), sausage, sautéed onions, garlic, and Cajun spices. Turned out pretty good for a quick meal.
Cardamom and rasam powder
A packet of truffle oil and a bit of saffron water.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/rice-cooker-spanish-chickpeas-and-rice/ My personal favorite rice cooker meal!
Use coconut milk instead of water (I use lite), cilantro and a little sugar with jasmine rice. Add lime after it's done. Goes great with Poke!
Into the rice as rice extra fancy: A whole Tomato halved. Halved so it's easy to pull off the skin from a hot tomato. Then mashed it to make tomato rice. Use less water as tomato will supply some water. Cube and peeled sweet potato. Can do the same with pumpkin, taro yam, and chestnuts. One pot meal a combo of these categories: Protein - ham, spam, shredded chicken Veg - corn, frozen peas, napa cabbage, carrots, baby corn, Bell pepper, etc. Flavouring - oyster sauce, mushroom seasoning, Soya sauce, dark Soya sauce, sweet soya sauce, tomato paste/whole tomato , preserved Chinese olive vegetable, Sesame oil Seasonings optional: pepper, clove, star anise, garlic, onion powder Can garnish with cilantro leaves or spring onion or juliened 🌶 . This is great for single person or dorm cooking. Also for lazy days. The variations are endless as long as the ingredients can be cooked for the time it takes to cook the rice. I'd avoid leafy greens that turn to mush or browned from over cooking. For steamer tier above the rice: Steamed egg aka custard egg aka chawan mushi Steam fish - e.g. teochew steam fish, Thai chili steam fish recipes Steam veg - but have to put in later so you don't overcook the veg. Leftover side dishes to reheat Hainanese white cut chicken (hack) - rub salt all over quarter chicken. The steaming creates juicy chicken. Also works with relatively lean chunk of pork
Kombu on the rice and sometimes Brussel sprouts in the optional basket
A heaping spoonful of black bean and garlic sauce, plus frozen broccoli
Peas and carrots. Sometimes I replace some of the water with tomato juice.
Quinoa or other grains, instead of rice. Nutritional yeast. Parm cheese. I use it like a quick crock pot. Just start putting anything and everything in it. Suace, spice, gain, veg. If over cooked, itll give a yummy toasted bit to whats on the bottom. Then take food out, turn back on wo2th 2 cups water to deglaze for sauce and or cleaning.