I am inspired to post this after reading someone who reckoned you could improve your Mahal's chances of getting a Visa if you had a rice cooker! Here is the £15 Lidl Rice Cooker... http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/...index_28607.htm?offerdate=&ar2=&ERR=noservice
Can you imagine failing on a spouse visa application, then on appeal a picture of your rice cooker changes everything
Yes I wonder I think I read that story somewhere too Anyway, I could not live without a rice cooker, the best one you'll get in normal stores in the UK is this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-RK701...Brushed/dp/B000T76URQ/ref=dp_cp_ob_kh_title_0 bit pricey but you get what you pay for and this one makes perfect rice every time, with zero attention, just count the cups of rice and fill to the correct level switch on and forget it, about 15 minutes later it will be ready, mine is over 7 years old now and still going strong. I would say though don't try to make less than 4 cups of rice at any one time that's about 7 or 8 servings, these machines work best with slightly larger quantities, just freeze the excess in reusable containers. If you like cooking Asian food (and I do big time) it's an absolute essential.
Tip for Rice Cookers - go to an Asian Store, where one would also buy foods and ingredients. Mostly they have the 'real thing" for sale or at least know where to buy. I bought ALL Asian stuff for my thai Restaurant in germany there and was never disappointed. Not all Asian stores are good, but if one asks his favorite Chinese/Asian Restaurant, they most likely will give you an Adress where they get their "Supplies". Other Option, if visiting the Philippines or any other Place in Asia- buy it there, mid size Prize range and brand such as 'panasonic" or the lieks are the best choice. Change the Plug or get an adaptor and happy days. Thailand is usually cheaper than the Philippines in appliances, (if this hasn't changed..!) Lidl/Aldi other discounters...they cann ahve great stuff, but often its just some very cheap and fast produced China stuff to attract People into the sores. Mixed results...
Our faithful Russell & Hobbs, has been going on for a few years, and doesn't show any signs of age just yet......... Id did cost about 30 odd, quid, but it is well worth it.
The Asian stores in the UK do have them but apparently they tend to be the very expensive models, ordinary shops tend to have the cheap ones or nothing, the rice cooking is often seen as the secondary purpose of the device and people buy them as Steamers but generally they don't make very good Steamers. I agree about the cheap ones, even in the Phils Abenson and most other appliance places I've looked tend to supply the cheap ones, we've had decent life and results out of this sort of design over there http://www.abenson.com.ph/shop/products.asp?product=2611&categ=132 (not that exact make/model)
We always cooked our rice in the microwave..Come to think of it..Thats all we ever did cook in it!! Came out perfectly cooked every time in about 18/20 mins..
I cannot really grumble about the steamer part of my rice cooker, as Jet does some great "leche flans" and steams veg to perfection using it.
Most of the reviews of rice cooker/steamers a lot of UK people never seem to get to grips with the steaming part Personally I prefer a separate steamer, like the things with three plastic buckets on top of each other, they're great, fanastic for veg and chicken.
We have one of those as well, and use it when we have guests in the place, as it would be too much for the rice cooker alone.
heart attack food v diabetes food I like both but I lean towards rice these days (should probably get my blood sugar checked ) Here you go I knew there had to be at least one device that could be used for both chips and rice http://www.maxi-matic.com/product.php?productid=155&cat=64&page=1
Yeah the steaming capacity of a rice cooker might be ideal for one person but not really for more than one, that's why I sometimes think these multipurpose devices are misguided, I mean a rice cooker can steam for one or two but make rice for ten or more at a time.
Have had two blood tests recently, the latter one was a fasting blood test; both indicated that I could have diabetes. Have another blood test on Thursday. I never eat fried chips (only the grilled/baked variety) and following the second blood test, switched to McCain Rustic chips which are just 3% fat and have no salt and I don't add any salt either. I reckon that those chips could be described as a 'health' food. In fact, I almost started a thread on here here about those very chips! Rice has a high Glycaemic Index (GI), especially short grain rice. I had always wondered why stoneground wholemeal bread is better than ordinary wholemeal bread and since reading about low GI foods I now know why! Stoneground bread is not so quickly digested because the flour is not so fine, this means it has a lower GI than ordinary wholemeal bread. As for those McCain chips, I have really no idea what their GI is, but I reckon it will be lower than other grilled chips as they still have the outer skin, which means more fibre. More fibre means it is less quickly digested, hence lower GI. I have always eaten potatoes with the skin on anyway - even when mashed - they taste so much better and it just saves time as well! And I am speaking as an ex-Scout who found it rather tiresome peeling spuds for 20-30 Boy Scouts!
