Cooking in Korea: The Rice Cooker

As a welcoming gift, my school gracioulsy provided me with a brand new bright red rice cooker. This is a staple cooking instrument used in most households in Asian countries.  I was eager to try out this new cooking tool- having grown up in a typical North American household the only way I knew how to cook rice was the tried and tested stove top method.

As I unwrapped the device I noted that it appeared to be pretty basic. A non-stick metal pot set inside a plastic and metal casing attached to a plug. Seemed pretty simple to me. I took the liberty to leaf through the instructions- there was of course one teeny problem: the instructions were in Hangul.  I decided then that I would neatly package the cooker back up until I could figure out what buttons to press and how to actually use it.

The machine sat tucked away for months hidden in the cupboard.  It was only when I moved into my new pad that I decided I would face my steaming fears and attempt to make perfect rice. Step one was to do some research on the internet. I had to figure out how to work the machine  ( someone out there must have posted something on using a rice cooker for dummies). 

Feeling somewhat confident and armed with my larger than one person sized rice bag, I set to work. There was one green light and one red light.  Where I come from green means go, and so that's what I did. I threw the ingredients in and crossed my fingers that the machine would do what it it's meant to.

Thursday Attempt #1: Rice, water, lid down and green light on. 45 minutes and several snacks later- not even a boil.

Following attempt number one, I decided to return to the instruction manual, as though somehow the Korean letters would jump out at me and tell me what I was doing wrong. Having devoured most of the pantry while waiting for the rice to cook I figured the experimentation would have to wait for another dinner.

Saturday Attempt#2: Rice, water, lid down and red light on. 20 minutes and too much water later- soggy rice.

Having seen a little steam, I figured I may have been on the right track. Attempt number three would just have to wait another day. 

Sunday Attempt #3: Rice, water, lid down and red light on. 20 minutes and some steam- perfect rice.

I did it! Cooked rice in a rice cooker! Perfect rice! I discovered though that first using a foreign cooking tool  requires patience, curiosity and a little trial and error. Now that I've mastered the rice I'm going to explore what else a rice cooker can be used for. I'll keep you posted if I'm able to create anything worth writing about.