Quote:
Originally Posted by sushidushi
I'm resurrecting an old thread here! What is the difference between Japanese and other rice cookers? I might buy one at some point, and I need to know what to look for. The prices vary tremendously. Some of them claim to have 'fuzzy logic'. What is that? Does it actually mean anything?  |
I may not be answering your question in a direct manner by saying this, but just think about who knows the best about rice and cooking rice. Think about who demands the most in how rice is cooked.
In Japan, rice isn't a side dish. It is the main dish. We actually call it 主食, meaning 'the main dish'. This is why many of us buy very expensive rice even though there are always cheaper brands. We want to cook rice in good rice cookers as well. In restaurants, we often comment on the rice served. Serve mediocre rice and you will lose customers. Gorgeous fish and meat dishes won't quite compensate for poorly cooked rice over here.
So, it will depend on what you expect your rice cooker to do. If you mostly eat long-grain rice, why not buy a Chinese-made rice cooker? They sure know how to cook long-grain rice. But if you eat mostly short-grain, why not buy a rice-cooker made by people who actually eat and know well about short-grain like the Japanese?
The 'fuzzy' rice cooker means, at least here in Japan, that it will read with sensors how much rice and water you put in and will decide for you how it should be cooked for the best result. It will automatically adjust the temperatures and the time periods for each temperature used inside during the course of the cooking. The result is often impressive with all the grains standing vertically when it's done. 'Grains standing' is the synonym for 'rice finely prepared' to the Japanese.
The cheapest kind, like mine, cannot 'read' anything. They just basically keep heating in the same temperature till the end. Moreover, they usually cook using the same amount of time regardless of how much rice you'e cooking.