The trivial mention of rice cookers rings bells of convenience, ease and zero intricacy. The first electric rice cooker was first invented in 1945; it is a very basic aluminium pot with a heating coil inside, with no automatic turn-off facility, and required constant monitoring during cooking. The first commercially successful automatic electric rice cooker was placed on the market in 1956, which uses a double-chamber indirect rice cooking method. Initial models did not have a keep-warm feature.

In the last decade, thanks to the ever-advancing technology, higher-end and deluxe models start appearing on the market, characterised by improved and added functions. The electric rice cooker is now a standard appliance in kitchens in most households.

As the modern generation steers away from traditions with novel ideas and cravings for the avant-garde, rice cookers nowadays are not only about producing quantities of cooked rice quickly and cheaply anymore. You can cook stews, soups, cakes, and you can even use it as a steamer if the rice cooker comes with the necessary accessories.

The Panasonic Microcomputer Controlled Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker (SR-MGS102) awes me with its multiple features. The Pre-Program Control Panel gives you the option of cooking white rice, brown rice, sticky rice, porridge or cake, with more precise cooking alternatives such as quick cook, slow cook and steam.

Here’s the recipe of a beef stew that I made, out of the mere hankering for comfort food. The quick cook function allows me to sauté the onions and garlic like how you would over the stove (except no fire is required here). The depth of the pot also means less splattering of oil. This dish has been stewed for 6 hours (with the help of the 24-hour preset timer, without having me keep an eye of the cooking process), and kept warm overnight till ready to devour. This cooking method yields tender chunks of beef that you can easily pull apart with no effort, and intensely flavoured potatoes and carrots that’s inherited all the natural beefy goodness. Continue reading →

Honoured to be selected by the panel of judges to be one of the top 10 finalists for Singapore’s Best Cooking Blog in the Singapore Blog Awards 2013, I was also given the opportunity to attend an enriching cooking workshop held at Onaka.

Chefs Jason and Benson demonstrated several recipes utilising appliances sponsored by Panasonic, which include a rice cooker, the Panasonic microwave oven NN-SV30, and the Panasonic mixer grinder MX-AC300 / 400.

In this post, I will be recapping on the recipes we’ve learnt, supplemented by a multitude of pictures for better comprehension. Do try these recipes at home! Continue reading →