Except for fruit—any type of fruit on the entire planet—the girls like rice more than just about anything. They can put away as much rice as I'm willing to make, and would happily eat it every single day.
To keep up with the demand, we finally got a serious rice cooker from Target. This bad boy takes about 40 minutes to do its job, but when it's done, oh man that tender, sticky rice is just perfection.
We serve it up with an icecream scoop (the girls like their rice to be in cute little balls) and add a heavy sprinkling of rice seasoning on top. I don't really know exactly what this stuff is, but Ro and Ree just die for it. My mom gets it at the local Daiso store:
It stinks to high heaven if you ask me, but no one's asking. I told Ro to hold the packet up so I could snap a picture of it and she did this. Funny girl.
Ree thought I was being a little stingy with the seasoning and grabbed the big bag to get another little packet out:
It's pretty much seasoned seaweed flakes with some dried shrimp pellets (I think...). Here's the back of the package for a more detailed look.
Anyhow, I was telling TubaDad that the rice cooker and seasoning got an enthusiastic two thumbs up from our girls tonight, and Ro said "No, mama, TEN thumbs up!!" I guess that's about as ringing of an endorsement as we're likely to get.
PS: Ro has a bit of a bloody nose in the pic above because she was doing some kind of trick on the monkey bars and fell smack on her face. It made a pretty bad noise and she bled all over an old Kleenex I happened to have in my pocket. Yeesh. We're keeping an eye on her, but she seems to be fine now.
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So funny...Eliza is always a bit disappointed when I make rice, but noodles...she lives for noodles!
ReplyDeleteI have a rice cooker very similar to that. My neighbor gave it to me but I don't have the directions. Can you tell me the amount of rice to water???? Lizzie loves rice too!! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeletePoor Ro!! As Jillian would say: "Ouchy"!!!
ReplyDeleteAs for the rice cooker, it looks like it's a great idea!! We just might get one too!! And as for the rice seasoning - I'm with you there M3 - just by the ingredients...not exactly my cup of tea!! I think it would stink to high heaven too!! LOL!!!
Oh yeah, I remember those sprinkles on the rice when I was a kid. It may be made of seaweed. It was to give it more "umpfh" if we really were just bored with more white rice.
ReplyDeleteDried, shredded pork goes good with the rice too.
You know what's crazy, I also crave that rice seasoning and sometimes eat a bunch of it all at the same time. Strait up seaweed in Chinese sheets is also extremely tasty! Have the girls tried that before? It's very popular with my Chinese/American kiddos.
ReplyDeleteIt's furikake. It's dried seaweed, most likely bonito flakes (a type of fish), sesame seeds, and seasoning. Sometimes it has dried egg bits too and other stuff. When I was in college it was quite staple. My dorm room neighbor (who's Japanese) would show me how to use it, take a big scoop of steaming rice just out of the cooker, sprinkle the furikake, and a beaten egg. Then mix furiously. the steam and heat from the rice soft "cooks" the beaten egg and there is your meal. Yum!
ReplyDeleteI buy the little jars of furikake and we love it, including the smell. I think the way it smells it's the way it taste.
ReplyDeleteEmma is not a big fan of rice but she is starting to eat a little more now.
Have you tried the paste kind? The smell is stronger on that one though.
Thanks for the tips! We have a wimpy little rice cooker. I think she'd eat it every day if I made it. I'd be happier if it was a bit stickier. Peace.
ReplyDeleteps - I'm TRYING to wait and let g'ma and aunties buy new PJ's but it's tough. Great find with the built in tutu! They look adorable as always.
A baby wipe works wonders for a bloody nose. The moisture keeps it from sticking as the blood dries and also aids in wiping the face clean.
ReplyDeleteWill they eat it other ways too or just plain with seasoning? Rice and beans are a staple in our house!
ReplyDeleteI need a good rice cooker. Will have to check that one out.
ReplyDeleteRice is a pretty big thing at our house too. So much so that the rice cooker lives ON the counter.
ReplyDeleteA rice cooker is on my Christmas list! He he.
ReplyDeleteNaomi loves furikake too!
p.s. What brand of rice do you use? Do the girls have a preference?
ReplyDeleteI think I might actually be able to eat that! I mean, if I can get past the smell and such. But the ingredients list doesn't contain anything I'm allergic to.
ReplyDeleteI think the "smell" is relative. Some cheeses have a much stronger scent than the furikake. It isn't sulphuric like cheese, but more fish based. If you don't mind sushi/seaweed then it should be an easy smell to acquire.
ReplyDelete@ Annie: Generally, depending on the type of rice you are using it's about 1 to 1.5/2 rice to water.
it's that dang seaweed gunk, ellie goes nutts for it we get it in little snack packs and she will eat as much as she can get her hands on. i agree it is stinky but it has alot of good vitamins and minerals
ReplyDeleteWe're big rice fans around here too. Gonna have to check out that special seasoning though! Sounds interesting (although the stinky aspect should be a deterrent!)
ReplyDeleteGwenny saw the pony in the pic and said "Hey, that's MINE!" Looks like someone in your family also likes Happy Meals?
:)
Donna
Our blog: Double Happiness!
Thanks for sharing, we're a big fan of rice and I use my rice cooker often, I'll have to try out the seasoning.
ReplyDeleteHope Ro's nose is ok, my Sage is similar, it takes awhile to stop the blood when she gets hurt, a little scary.
We have a similar one here too. Both girls would eat rice 3 times a day if I let them. (But that would be like putting a plug in them.)
ReplyDeletePoor Ro - face plants are no fun!
That's awesome. I've never seen a rice cooker. What a cute idea to put the rice into little balls.
ReplyDeleteMy Chinese daughter will not eat rice. She loved it when she was 2, Now at 5 and a half she says she hates it. It's so funny, my husband and I love rice!
ReplyDeleteLisa V
I love furikake. I never thought to give it to Casey. She's not a big rice eater but I bet she'd like it. I've always gotten a jar of it which is too much for me, but I haven't gotten any in a while. I like the idea of the little packets.
ReplyDeleteBoth my kids are Asian and I swear they can eat rice all day long. Peter also enjoys seaweed. I guess you can take the child out of Asia, but you can't take Asia out of the child (and Peter was born in Calif!), with the possible exception of Lisa V's Chinese daughter :) Of course, Peter doesn't like KimChee, but my Polish, Hungarian, German husband does! GO figure!
ReplyDeleteBeing Italian, I grew up with pasta cooked any number of ways. Served with bread. Still love it today. My waistline, however is rebelling against such wonderful foods. Sigh...
Remember Rice=Food in most Asian rice based cultures. My girls eat it with their hamburgers and french fries and are in for a shocker when we return to the States (in 4 days, am I excited??) to find McDonalds doesn't serve rice!
ReplyDeleteI just bought the same rice cooker at Costco, my daughter loves her rice too, and mama loves oatmeal which can also be made in a rice cooker! yumm!
ReplyDeleteTo Annie,
ReplyDeleteThe easiest way is put in amount of rice you want, put your hand on the rice, and add water. The water should be high enough to just cover the top of your hand. Also, I wouldn't recommend any rice cooker from Target. Some good brands are Zojirushi, Panasonic, and Cusinart. They are around $75-$199. You can use them to cook rice while steam veggies or fish on top. There are a lot other use for rice cooker. It is totally worth the money.
My girls are big rice fan. In fact, I have been making rice every morning for the past week. I combined the rice with some veggies (such as edamame), shredded chicken, scrambled eggs, and soy sauce. Very easy, and the girls love it!
ReplyDeleteHey thanks for all the info guys!!
ReplyDeleteLet's see, for the questions:
Annie: ours came with a little cup measurer, and with that we're supposed to do 1:1, so if you do two cups of rice (rinsed until the water runs clear), then you fill to the 2 line in the cooker. The only thing is that ratio is if you use the measuring cup that came with the machine, and it's not the same as a standard 1 cup measurer. I think with a standard cup it's more like 1.5 cups of rice to 2 cups of water.
TinaJiejie: We've never tried that, I'll have to find some!
Ani: They pretty much like it plain, or with the funky seasoning. They won't touch "fancy" rice, but I wonder if I could sneak in some beans. I'm going to try!
Julie: We use Nishiki medium grain rice. No idea whether that's the best stuff or not, but it's what we've always used so we keep getting the same thing because we know they love it.
Donna: Good eye! Yep, that's a happy meal pony. A special girls treat when TubaDad's gone for dinner (and man oh man are we getting a collection of them lately).
Have you seen the furikake shaker from Ichibankan (or any other bento supply store)? It's a little monkey shaped container with two faces and a hole in the back to shake out the furikake. Turn it to the awake face and the hole is open, turn to the asleep face the hole is closed. Also good for other sprinkly things. So cute, and fun.
ReplyDeleteM3, your blog is great. However, I do want to correct one misconception about wash rice before cooking. We used to do that in China cause the rice was not over process. In the US, there is a law that obliges producers of milled, white rice to add nutrients back to the grains to make it as nutritious as brown rice (with its bran layer). This means a dusty coating of vitamins and minerals is added to the rice before it is packaged and sold. So if you wash rice produced in US, you are actually washing away a lot of nutrients. Rice from Asia, such as jasmine rice from Thailand tends not to be artificially enriched and is simply sold as milled, white grains. With non-enriched types of rice, washing should make no difference to the nutritional content. Hopely people will find this comment helpful.
ReplyDeleteHey Lovehandle, thanks for the info, I didn't know that! My Aunt Elaine (who is Chinese) taught me to wash the rice before cooking it, and I always thought it was to make it stickier for some reason. Off to Google it.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I am Chinese and my name is Elaine too! I am a big foodie, and I just started a food blog (www.the-lovehandle.com) a few month ago... My sister-in-law adopted a girl from China and she is in the process of adopting a boy. I found your site through her.
ReplyDeleteso funny...my girls LOVE rice with rice seasoning too! We get it at the local Asian grocery store in a glass jar and it somes in varying flavors (salmon, shrimp, etc). I love it, too.
ReplyDeleteUs asians like our food, what can you say!? =)
ReplyDeleteI always put egg in mine and then add a bit sracha (sp?) or rooster sauce. May be a bit too spicy, but ooo la la!