At first it bubblesAnd then it hissesEven if the baby is cryingDon’t remove the lid. Japanese nursery rhyme on how to cook ricetranslated by Elizabeth Andoh Once upon a time, rice was just rice—in our lives anyway. You planned a meal and rice seemed to be the right starch to serve with it. You placed the saucepan on the stove, measured some water into it, pulled down the bag of rice, measured it into the cup, and poured it into the boiling water. As the water came back to a boil, on went the cover and, when the timer beeped, you ate the rice. That was before we met the rice cooker. Since then, the world of rice—the amazing array of rice available on every supermarket and specialty grocery shelf, where it grows, its lore and history, sharing recipes, the writing of this book—has become an everyday part of our lives. To an American cook, the electric rice cooker has been, up to now, a take-it-or-leave- it kitchen appliance. I mean, what’s a stove for? But to many Asian-American cooks and cooks throughout Asia, the rice cooker is an absolutely essential appliance for everyday meal preparation.
