The Zojirushi Rice Cooker
Six months ago, my coworker described the Zojirushi rice cooker as a premier kitchen tool, producing perfectly cooked rice, and even “singing a little song to you when it’s done”. This was the first time I had heard about it, and after searching them up, I saw that the base model goes for over $250.
I’d just moved from NYC to SF and had made it a priority to start cooking. In New York, my kitchen was actively nudging me to eat out. When you opened the dishwasher, the door would block your access to the sink, making it impossible to rinse dishes off and place them directly into the dishwasher. My kitchen also had no windows, which was the cherry on top for making cooking unpleasant. This made it easy for me to rely on eating out, and I used it as a way to explore the city: going for walks and stumbling into restaurants for dinner.
When I moved to San Francisco, rather than exploring the city by restaurants, I decided I was going to explore grocery stores and farmers markets. I now go for a walk, buy fresh produce and meat, and cook those groceries for the next couple of days. This has led me to enjoy cooking, but I kept jumping back to the same starch.
I’ve realized there are only so many ways of cooking a potato, and it was time to add rice into the rotation.
I already had a rice cooker from Target that was very simple, and just had an on and off switch. It worked fine, but I couldn’t get the idea of “perfect” rice out of my head. Pretty soon I knew I had to get the Zojirushi, granted I could find it on sale with a generous return policy.
After purchasing, I read the manual, set up the rice cooker, and made rice for the first time. And it came out perfect: plump, tasty, and evenly cooked, all at the click of the button. It’s convenient, requires no maintenance while it cooks, and I’m pleasantly surprised how much joy the song brings me that plays when its done.
Just when I thought I couldn’t enjoy the Zojirushi anymore, I decided to try out the “cake” feature. I used overripe bananas to make banana bread in the rice cooker. Similar to the rice, it was perfect: light, tasty, and evenly cooked through.
In the last two months since purchasing, what I keep coming back to is the quality that the Zojirushi produces. Stranded on a desert island, if I’m given a bag of rice, I better have my Zojirushi with me.