JSランゲージスクールブログ | Rice Cooker Pancakes
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by Patrick
Last month I wrote about learning to cook in a Japanese kitchen, and I mentioned that I love to use my rice cooker for, well, cooking rice. Until recently, that’s all I ever used it for. I learned years ago that you can cook all kinds of things in a rice cooker, if you’re creative: soups, stews, macaroni and cheese, chili beans, risotto, and even steamed vegetables if your rice cooker has a steamer rack. But the fact is, I’ve never tried to cook any of those.
However, after writing that article last month, I wondered if it was possible to do some simple baking in a rice cooker. So I searched the internet and quickly discovered that yes, it is possible! I found recipes for making a variety of breads, cakes, and puddings in a rice cooker. But the recipe that caught my interest was for a pancake – a ‘rice cooker pancake’.
A rice cooker pancake is very easy to make. You simply mix your pancake batter as usual, but instead of mixing it in a bowl, mix it in the rice cooker pot. Then, put the pot back in the rice cooker, close the lid, and turn it on, as if you were cooking rice. When it’s finished, you should find a thick, round, fluffy pancake inside – so big that you can cut it into slices like a cake!
This recipe is so simple that I decided I had to try it. To tell you the truth, my rice cooker pancake was a little undercooked, but it was still delicious. I’ll try again someday, but in the meantime I’m happy making normal pancakes instead of experimenting.
On the other hand, a rice cooker pancake has some advantages over normal pancakes. If you’re cooking for a group of people, you can serve everyone at the same time with a single rice cooker pancake, instead of serving them one at a time as you would if you were cooking normal pancakes. Also, because rice cookers are designed to keep their contents warm for a long time, you can start cooking your giant pancake before you go to bed, and wake up to a warm, delicious breakfast in the morning!
You can find photos and recipes for rice cooker pancakes on the internet – just google “rice cooker pancake” or 「炊飯器ホットケーキ」.
