If you own a rice cooker, it’s time to give it a real workout. If you’re one of those people who can’t understand the point of plain white rice, do not reach for the soy sauce PLEASE!
Jambalaya
This is totally random for a rice cooker, I know, but I thought it might be fun to try. This was from Sam The Cooking Guy, an equally random Google find. What I liked about this one though, was that you stick everything in the rice cooker and push “START” and that was it. You know me, I love the “START” button when it’s the only task I have to do.
Of all the rice cooker recipes, this one was the most extravagant because of all the ingredients, but still, worth it for what you’re getting. There is a Zojirushi version here if you’re interested.
The one thing I messed up was that I should have used jasmine rice or some other long-grain instead of my Japanese rice. I think this style of Jambalaya is supposed to be on the mushy side anyway, but I feel it might have been a little too much because of the type of rice I used. It still tasted really good though, so I’m not gonna blame Sam.
By the way, you probably already figured out that this Jambalaya is Cajun style, which is why it doesn’t have a tomato base. The other kind is called Red Jambalaya and is the Creole version, specifically associated with the city of New Orleans. They’re both good if you ask me, but now you know!
Ketchup Rice
If this sounds like a strange name for a dish to you, I’m gonna agree. But it’s also known as Chicken Rice, and it’s a staple (at least it was when I was growing up) in most Japanese homes. It’s basically the inside rice part of omurice (omelet rice) that I’m sure you’ve heard about. Guess what? If you haven’t mastered the art of frying the paper-thin scrambled egg that’s needed to cover the omurice, just make Ketchup Rice in your rice cooker and you won’t be missing a thing.
I followed the recipe from Just One Cookbook for this one. Pretty straightforward with ingredients I already had on hand.
Everything goes into the pot, but you need to layer the chicken and onions on top and not mix it up until the rice cooks through its cycle. You can mix it up after it’s done and let the keep warm function steam it until you get perfect Ketchup Rice. Follow the directions—it’s pretty easy.
So the great thing about making Ketchup Rice is that it freezes really well, so if you have leftovers, just keep it for later when you need lunch the next day. Rice freezes well in general as you know, so this is no different. In fact, once you’ve mastered that really thin omelet, you can take out your Ketchup Rice and try your hand at omurice, LOL.
Inari Sushi
We made footballs! That’s what everyone calls Inari Sushi if you’re Japanese-American. It’s because of the brown-colored fried tofu wrapping of course. You can literally buy inari rice mix from the market where all you do is add it to a pot of rice and cook it, but it’s also easy to make it from scratch if you want.
The fun part is filling up the little pouches of fried tofu skins (aburaage) to make the footballs. I think it’s a great way to do a food activity with your kids.
If you’ve never tried inari sushi, you should. The sweetness of the fried tofu balances out with the vinegary sushi rice, and the ingredients make a great alternative to fish. It’s a simple, inexpensive sushi choice. See? It’s now March and we’re still keeping our New Year’s resolution to save money. Pat yourself on the back.
What kind of dishes have you cooked in your rice cooker lately? C’mon, don’t be shy…
Products used in this post: Umami® Micom Rice Cooker & Warmer NL-GAC10/18
Please note that these recipes were not tested by Zojirushi America.
All images by Bert Tanimoto ©2025
Leave a Reply