Rice cookers are standard for families in Taiwan. IMO, it has little to do with flavor or texture and more to do with convenience.

Everyone in Hong Kong had a rice cooker, which was used multiple times during the day. I don't ever remember rice being cooked on a stove-top.

Partly this is for convenience, and poartly because of the stove situation. People didn't have big, 4-6 burner ranges like we have. Most people had 2 or 1 burners, so there wasn't room for rice.

Also, I don't know if this is a factor or not, but the burners were high-intensity, they got much hotter than the typical US stove, which is needed if you really want to do your stir frying correctly. It may be harder to control the low temperatures needed for rice on these burners. Or maybe not. This is my biggest complaint about cooking Chinese food here in the US. I just can't get the wok hot enough.

I almost always use a rice cooker for the same reasons, convenience, and because I need the stove for other things.

This makes some sense, although I'm not sure I've ever needed all four burners plus one to cook rice on. Question for everyone--how is it more convenient? Don't you still have to measure out everything?

Anyway, don't want to beat a dead horse...I'm just curious. One of my former roommates was the one who had a rice cooker, but it was a pain in the rear to clean, so we ended up just cooking on the stove. Which made me wonder--why the rice cooker?

While we're on the subject of Asian cooking--I'm in the market for a new wok. Any recommendations?

While on the subject

Well, like a crockpot, you can throw in the rice and water and leave and it'll stay warm and be ready for you. You can't do that on the stove.

I have a cheap wok I bought from the local Asian market. I prefer the iron-steel wok over the carbonized steel. Season and maintain it well and it will last forever.

[quote=ERCougar;292372]Anyway, don't want to beat a dead horse...I'm just curious. One of my former roommates was the one who had a rice cooker, but it was a pain in the rear to clean, so we ended up just cooking on the stove. Which made me wonder--why the rice cooker?[quote]

How was it difficult? With every rice cooker I've seen, including the two I own, the nonstick cooking vessel comes out and can be popped into the dishwasher.

[QUOTE=myboynoah;292382][quote=ERCougar;292372]Anyway, don't want to beat a dead horse...I'm just curious. One of my former roommates was the one who had a rice cooker, but it was a pain in the rear to clean, so we ended up just cooking on the stove. Which made me wonder--why the rice cooker?It didn't have a non-stick coating and we didn't have a dishwasher. It did detach but the rice (or at least that starchy residue) seemed to stick really badly--definitely worse than the saucepan.

The wok's so big that you only have two others. When I make Chinese food, I make a LOT of Chinese food. Generally 5 to 7 dishes.

Odd. They needed to invest in new technology.

A friend in Japan bragged that she had a gas rice cooker. She said it cooked the rice much better than electric. My barbarian taste buds couldn't tell the difference.

Is there nothing better to do in New Dehli than ponder rice cookers on cougarguard?