Despite its most obvious name rice cooker can do much more than just make rice. It can conveniently make a wide variety of foods. The rice cooker principle is very simple; it uses moist heat to perfectly cook food for a period of time and trapping the flavors of the food inside the pot. Some rice cookers have a slow cook setting, but even with the basic one, you can also trick it to make more than just rice. The truth is there are those home appliances that we believe or have been led to believe that they were made just for one purpose. In this article, I will show you five things that you can make with a rice cooker that perhaps you did not know it would make.
Breakfast meals
When you think of making breakfast for yourself or your family, a rice cooker would perhaps be the last thing that crosses your mind.
· Boiled eggs; there are perhaps a million and one ways of making the perfect boiled eggs but do you know you can also make them with a rice cooker? Well, now you know. Due to its deep pot, a rice cooker can boil many eggs in a single boil and produce perfectly cooked eggs. The eggs are easy to peel, and although it will probably not save you any time over just using gas, it is very hands off. The eggs actually will not be boiled but rather steamed but will have the same results as if they were boiled.
· Frittata; a rice cooker makes perfect frittatas, and the best part is there is no need to flip them. They will cook from top to bottom uniformly with no concerns at all. You will just need to use the normal cook setting, and before the cooker is done, you will have enough breakfast for two or even three depending on the size of your rice cooker.
Whole meals
· Steamed meats and vegetables; as you cook your rice you can use this trick to add some extra flavor to it i.e. if it came with a steaming tray, you can steam the vegetables together with the meat hence improving the flavor of your rice. It is very simple; steam your rice first and when it is almost time you use the steaming tray to place your vegetables and or meat on top. The combination of flavors you can add to your rice are limitless you just have to get a little bit creative with the combinations you are steaming.
· Ram roast; I have used my rice cooker to cook a variety of meat including pork and ham. To start out, I was just experimenting so I just placed the ingredients which included; ram roast, chili sauce, onions, curry, soy sauce, garlic, coriander and lemon juice. After using the cook setting, I changed the setting to warm for just an hour. The results were amazingly outstanding. The ram roast was well cooked and even better than using the stove. You should try the trick, and you can even experiment with any type of meat.
Soup
Unbelievable right? I know. You can use your rice cooker to make soup. It is simple really. Just prepare your ingredients, drop them in the cooker pot and then add water. Use the cook setting and slid the lid. Look through the glass, and when the soup looks right, you can now change to warm. The soup will cook, and it will blow your mind at how efficient and great the soup will be. There are a variety of soups you can make with this appliance you can just get creative. I prefer making pritkin soup.
Snacks and desserts
For most of you who do not have an oven or perhaps you are just too lazy to switch the oven on and wait for it to warm then you are in luck because your rice cooker will save your life.
· Cheesecake; if you do not know it already, your rice cooker has the ability to mimic your oven. So when you have a craving for cheesecake just mix your ingredients and throw them in the cooker pot. Then put on the normal rice cooking setting and wait for an hour. When the cake is cooked, you will have the most efficient way of making a cheesecake that you will not need the oven anymore.
· Hummus; when you have friends come over you can treat them with homemade hummus. It will take just about half an hour to have the chickpeas cook. Then you can puree them with the rest of the ingredients. It is very simple to make with mind blowing results.
Other grains
Needless to say perhaps because you can guess it is you can use your rice cooker to cook other grains. Name it; risotto, beans, peas, maize, grits, quinoa, and polenta you can make them all comfortably with your rice cooker. The procedure of cooking them is just as simple. The same way you cook your rice will be the same technique perhaps the only thing you should worry about is the time it takes to cook each grain. After they cook, you can now make a family meal with the grains; black bean chili or even vegetable hot cake. The combinations of the grains you can make are limitless.
These are of 5 Amazing Things Your Rice Cooker Can Do. There are numerous others which can extend to over two hundred. If you are a university student and you do not want to eat at the common hall, you can make your life easier by getting a rice cooker. The things you can do are limitless, and the only thing that can limit you is your imagination. If you are lazy and an oven is too tedious for you, then the rice cooker will be your friend. Here is a list of other things that you can make with this amazingly multipurpose home appliance; mac and cheese, egg custards, seafood among others.
However, the only downside with cooking with a rice cooker is the cooking style is low fidelity. You simply throw everything inside; that limits you from cooking individual components in their own standard fashion. Let’s say perhaps when you are making broth, and you have mixed all the ingredients and thrown them all into the pot; they will lose their appropriate taste were they to be cooked in the other conventional way. Other than that the rice cooker is a perfect way of cooking your food effortlessly and hands-free; just sit back and enjoy the great taste and aroma.
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