Suihanki: The Japanese Rice Cooker and Its Many Possibilities

Rice cookers are a familiar sight in Japanese kitchens. These electric appliances are called Suihanki [炊飯器] in Japanese, and they have gained popularity around the world. They make everyday life easier and, beyond plain rice, open the door to a surprising range of dishes that belong in any well-used kitchen.

Cooking rice in a Japanese electric cooker is very simple. Just put in the washed rice, add water using a measuring cup, close the lid, and wait. In about 10 to 15 minutes, the rice is ready and the machine automatically switches off.

This small piece of engineering makes the busy lives of many in Japan a little easier. The cooker also keeps rice warm throughout the day and lends itself to a number of other interesting dishes, which we will walk through in this article.

How Did the Japanese Rice Cooker Come About?

The first Suihanki was produced in 1945 by Mitsubishi. At the time, it worked with a heating coil, was made of aluminum, and had no automatic shut-off.

The first fully automatic electric rice cooker appeared in 1956, developed by Yoshitada Minami in collaboration with Toshiba. The success was striking: more than 200,000 units a month were rolling off the production lines.

By the 1980s, the rice cooker had become a fixture in nearly every Japanese household, and manufacturers began expanding into China, Korea, and eventually the rest of the world. With each new generation, the technology improved, and so did the flavor of the rice and the cooker's popularity.

The Many Possibilities with a Suihanki

Many people use the Japanese rice cooker only for rice. Yet it handles far more: from soups and bread to desserts, it can tackle a long list of recipes that go well beyond rice and its close cousins. Below is a selection of dishes you can prepare in a rice cooker, in case you have been on the fence about getting one.

When you cook something other than rice in the suihanki, just keep an eye on the food and check whether it has cooked through or is starting to overcook.

• Beans
• Soups
• Sweet rice (mochigome)
• Bread
• Pudding
• Hot chocolate
• Fruit compote
• Pasta
• Savory pie
• Frittata
• Boiled eggs
• Meats
• Steamed vegetables
• Ground meat with tomatoes
• Creamy corn
• Sukiyaki — a classic Japanese hot pot of thinly sliced beef, tofu, and vegetables simmered in a sweet-savory broth
• Couscous
• Stroganoff
• Chicken soup
• Cheesecake

As you can see, the possibilities with a Japanese rice cooker are wide open, and it is a real help on those evenings when turning on the stove feels like too much. A simple bowl of gohan (Japanese rice) comes out just as easily.

A rice cooker is noticeably cheaper than an electric fryer and far more versatile. If you already own one, what is the best dish you have made in it? And if you are still thinking about buying one, what is holding you back?