Rice to the nth degree

I've been cooking more Asian food at home lately, but my cooking technique for short-grained Japanese rice leaves something to be desired. Fortunately, I have a Japanese friend, Sonoko, who is a wonderful cook, so I asked her how she cooks her rice. Don’t buy an electric rice cooker, she advised me. Good thing, because I wasn’t planning on buying one anyway. They’re too bulky — and ugly, too.

She uses a special clay cooker for rice called a donabe, which she carried back from Tokyo on the plane. It weighs a ton, she said, but the rice it cooks is so beautiful! It’s made of heavy clay and has a double lid that captures the steam. And if you cook the rice a minute or two longer, it develops a delicious crust at the bottom.

Where can I get one? She didn’t know, but then generously offered to come over the next day with her donabe and show me how it worked. And since she was leaving that afternoon for a few weeks, she left it with me so I could try it and see if I liked it. Perfect.

I laid in what Sonoko says is the top quality of rice: Koshihikari from the northern rice region of Japan, about $29 for 5 pounds at Japanese markets. This weekend, I cooked my first rice in her donabe, and I’m never going back to a saucepan with a lid. I’ve got to get one of these. The rice is small-grained and firm, each grain absolutely distinct the way it is in a great risotto. It has a slightly grassy, nutty perfume, and a wonderful texture. It’s so good I could eat it plain. And I did. This rice is strictly special occasion, though: I figure it costs about a dollar and a half per person. But in the world of luxuries, that’s not so much, and absolutely worth it.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the clay rice cooker from Japan. I couldn’t find one online, at least not in English. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist somewhere. And if push comes to shove, Sonoko has offered to bring me back one on her next trip.

— S. Irene Virbila

Photo by S. Irene Virbila

Comments

[C. Y]

Try Marukai or Pacific Market in Gardena

[Tea]

I have a donabe I brought back from Japan as well, but they are easy to find. You can order them online at vendors such as:
http://www.zensuke.com/kitchenware.htm

Also, look for them places such as Ranch 99 and other Asian markets. They may be hard to find in markets right now as they are considered seasonal items (nabe is most often used to make winter stews). They are referred to as donabe (earthen pot) or just nabe (pot) and come in different sizes, usually expressed as serving sizes (i.e. 2 person nabe, 5 person nabe). This refers to stew servings, not rice.

Enjoy!

[susan]

I see several pots available on ebay.

[Bernadette Estrada]

Donabe Hot Pots Available at:
http://www.zensuke.com/kitchenware.html

[susan]

I saw quite a few on ebay.

[Susan]

I see a number of these available on ebay.com.

[matteo]

I agree with H.C., you can find those at a large Korean supermarket, like the ones in Orange County or probably at Koreatown Galleria Market. They shouldn't too expensive either.

[ipsedixit]

You can get those claypots at Tak Shing Hong in Monterey Park.

Tak Shing Hong
122 W. Garvey Ave.,
Monterey Park, CA 91754

[H.C.]

I think I've seen those in Koreatown & Little Tokyo places that sells cookware (in the latter neighborhood, there's one of those shops in the Mitsuwa plaza and another one near 2nd and San Pedro I believe). But even if those merchants don't sell them, you can bring the picture and they can probably point you in the right direction... good luck!