You may be wondering why my old rice cooker features here. This is an obituary of it.
All responsible Singaporean parents sent their children off to university with a rice cooker and mine were no exception in 1979.
My little rice cooker saw me through my law degree, Bar School, pupilage, marriage, divorce, legal career, second marriage and nineteen years of parenthood. It cooked for big dinner parties and small family meals.
The Thermomix arrived. The rice cooker stayed put whilst the Vitamix was sold for a handsome sum on Ebay. Never would anything take the place of my trusted rice cooker; so I thought.
Feeling rather traitorous, I had a go at making rice in the steamer basket of my Thermomix and was so impressed. Not only was the rice fluffier than my rice cooker ever managed to get it, there was no residue at the bottom of the pan to deal with. Literally every morsel was available for consumption. Impressive. Despite the revelation my loyalty to the veteran machine remained strong. Until now.
I had a large pot of chicken stock in the fridge. My daughter had a stinking cold and said all she wanted was some steamed rice. Well, I put 500g of basmati rice in the steamer basket and rinsed it. I chucked 2 stalks of celery and one carrot in the bowl and chopped them for 4 seconds on speed 5 and put the basket of rice in. I poured 1 litre of stock in and then topped it up with water so that it covered the rice and added a teaspoon of salt. Set the timer for 15 minutes for white rice (35 minutes for brown rice), temperature at 100c and speed 4 with blade disabled and MC on. Of course you can steam veg and meat in the Varoma trays for a full meal). If you find the water level rises and threatens to overflow, increase the speed to up to 6 and the vortex created should bring down the water.
Result: simply beautiful rice to feed 6. And unlike the rice cooker that absorbs all the liquid, there was the bonus of a delicious and nutritious broth to serve on the side.
So, my dearest gadget (till now), thank you for 36 years of sterling service. You will not be forgotten but you will be replaced and I am sorry to say, will not be missed. Rest in peace.
Mix Fix Cook 
thank you, amazing post, completely agree how the rice turns out so fluffy, same with quinoa and buckwheat, so much better than from the stove. please just a follow up question, when you write: ‘.. temperature at 100c and speed 4 with blade disabled and MC on.’ how do i disable the blade? thank you very much, ( i struggle with the water overflow on top of lid when cooking short grain brown rice)
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Hi Kristina! The reverse button is the last (fourth) key on the right next to the turbo/dough key. It has an arrow curving anti-clockwise. When you press that the blade goes into reverse mode so the blunt side of the blade is activated to ensure that the food you are stirring does not get chopped. I have not cooked short grain brown rice (I only like basmati!) and my suggestion is that you try increasing the speed? It creates a vortex and reduces the “up flow”.
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