A smaller, yet still perfect rice cooker!

I bought the top of the line Induction heating model Zojirushi cooker for the house over a year ago and it is an indispensable appliance in my house now. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without it. So I wanted one for work to cook lunches and occasionally breakfasts for myself. The Zojirushi NH-VBC18 model at home cooks up to ten cups which is ideal for a family but I wanted something that I could use at work. I naturally turned again to the same company and found the NS-ZCC10 which is a fuzzy logic cooker that makes up to 5.5 cups. Great for smaller servings.

I’ve learned a lot since buying the other cooker so here goes. This one is a lot like the big unit, but in a smaller, more portable package. Although it is smaller than the big 10 cup cookers, it’s not something I’d want to have to take to and from the office every day so when not in use, I keep it locked up at my desk (it fits perfectly in a desk hanging file drawer.) when I go home.

It has a retractable cord (something the other Zojirushi models don’t) which means you aren’t fighting with the cord when you have to put it away. Using it is a breeze. I keep 3 kinds of rice in air tight Tupperware containers here at work which I fill from large bags at home – Japanese Nishiki medium grain rice, Thai Jasmine long grain rice or Indian Sona Masuri medium grain. All three are very premium rices in their respective countries of origin and ought to be used with dishes from those countries. I am a hardcore Asian gourmet cook. I love Asian and Indian cuisines. So I’ll cook a batch of Indian milk stewed chicken with spices, or a Japanese curry and meat topping, Thai curry or Chinese dish at home and steam the rice fresh for it at work. My wife is pleased because I almost never go out to lunch, saving a bundle of money over the people at work that feel the need to go out every day. Sometimes in the morning, I’ll cook a jook or congee (basically a breakfast rice porridge that this coooker makes wonderfully), maybe chop up a black preserved duck egg I purchased at a Chinese market and add some dried pork and green onions to it, or maybe just start with raisins and some honey – that’s the beauty of that kind of breakfast – you can make it hundreds of different ways and it’s so warming and nutritious.

Using it is so simple. Measure the rice using one of the two included cups (white for rice that gets washed and a smaller, green cup for rice you don’t wash – I ALWAYS wash rice, so I haven’t ever used my green cup). Fill the pot 2/3 full with water and swish it, and pour off the milky water. Do this 4-5 times until the water rinses clear. Then add water up to the line for the type of rice you are cooking, put the pan in and close the cooker. Choose the texture you want (firmer or softer rice) and push start. That’s it!! Depending on how much rice you cook with it, it will take between 25 and 30 minutes to cook it unless you use the quick cook option which will do it in 15-18, with a slight difference in texture if you take that route. The important thing here is that no matter what kind of rice you cook with this thing, it cooks it consistently and it has cycles for both brown and white rice, and a GABA brown extended rice cycle to increase the nutritional value of brown rice by starting the germination process in each grain. It also has a sushi rice measurement and has a recipe for making that rice also (sushi rice has a sweet and sour flavor given it by the infusion of vinegar and sugar using an interesting cooling and folding process which the manual details how to do.) Sushi comes out fantastic if you make the rice this way and prepare it yourself it at home! And the rice, no matter which cycle, type or prep method you use, will taste the same the 5000th time you cook it as it did the first time and every time in between on that same cycle. The consistent results are what put this cooker above the competition in my opinion. You get the same perfect product every time you use it. Period! And once the rice is cooked, it automatically goes into a keep warm cycle that will keep your rice warm, firm and moist for up to 24 hours, I've found and not lose ANY quality. Asian families will typically cook a full pot with one of these cookers and use it for all 3 meals of the day, letting the cooker keep the rice ready and warm for each one.

Also, I mentioned in my other review that I liked using chicken stock with it. Truth is, you really shouldn’t use anything but water. Trust me on that – the flavor is SO much better and if you DO use stock, it can brown the rice at the bottom of the rounded heating pan. I rinse my rice with tap water and pour the last bit of rinse water after the 5th or so rinse through a strainer. Then I use filtered water to cook the rice in.

You won’t believe the taste. I'll use Japanese medium grain rice when I cook Korean or Japanese dishes, Sona Masuri for Indian dishes (Basmati for special or ceremonial Indian meals or for Persian dishes like lamb Chelo Kabob), and Jasmine rice for Thai, Vietnamese or Chinese foods (while all don't, a LOT of Chinese restaurants have switched to using Thai Jasmine rice because of its enhanced flavor over ordinary Chinese long grain rice). Using the right rice with the right meal is half the battle in creating Eastern dishes that will have guests praising your cooking skills behind your back!!

Even in a restaurant, you’ll be hard pressed to get rice THIS good. I haven't found a restaurant that can steam better rice, quite honestly. You see, they have to cook rice in a big stainless steel industrial cooker because it has to be cooked fast and in large amounts to keep up with the much higher rate of consumption. THIS cooker isn’t slow, but it cooks rice the right way – taking the necessary time to let the rice expand and soak up the liquid and release locked-in nutrients. That really shouldn’t be rushed but restaurants don’t have that luxury. No shortcuts = better flavor. If you’ve never been able to make rice at home taste like you get it at a Chinese or Japanese restaurant no matter what you do, and you buy this thing, you are in for a stunning surprise.

Cleaning the cooker is very quick. I take the pan out after it’s been emptied and put a little water in and use a handled sponge or gentle bristle brush (the inside is coated with non stick Teflon – it’s hard to scratch it but why take the risk?) and gently brush the inside until it’s sudsy and rinse. Dry it off before you put it back in and you’re basically done. I like to clean the inner lid and steam vent about every 2-3 times I use mine.

This will cook any rice, but don’t use it to cook minute rice or Uncle Ben's – those are parboiled rices that have been pre cooked. Also, U.S. supermarkets must think the average American consumer is stupid. Carolina long grain rice isn’t too bad in price but they have these 1 lb plastic jars of “sushi rice” that they sell for $3.89 or more. Sushi rice is Japanese medium grain rice. There’s not anything more special about it. I buy mine at the local Asian grocer under one of three different brands (Nishiki, Calrose or Botan) for about $22 for a 50 lb bag. If you decide to buy rice in amounts that large like I do, be sure you put ALL of that rice in air tight containers after you open the bag or bugs will find it in a hurry.

This appliance is as indispensable in an Asian kitchen as an oven or microwave is in western homes. If you have a gourmet flair and want to cook Oriental meals, you aren’t going to be able to do it without an appliance like this. I paid $148 for mine and the price was well worth it. Zojirushi is a brand I trust completely when it comes to rice cookers.