[recipes + videos] 3 One Pot Meal with Tefal Advanced Spherical Pot Rice Cooker

In this modern society I believe many of us have at least one rice cooker at home. And as a home cook who prepare at least 5 meals a week, I prefer a good and durable rice cooker that makes cooking convenient and foolproof. For example: just add rice and water then press a button to start the cooking.

Nowadays they are so many variety of rice cooker available on the market which offer special features that meet individual needs. Some of the innovative cookers can even use to prepare quick and easy one-pot meal like what we did in this post.

ONE-POT CHICKEN RICE

Made a hassle free Chicken Rice in the rice cooker using mixed grain (no need pre-soaked), boneless chicken leg and some spices. On top of that I also add-on a steamed fish which cook together with the rice in the provide steam basket.

My family is satisfy with the fluffy texture of the rice and I am happy with how I can easily prepared two dish in the cooker including simple stir-fry before the actual cooking. Oh ya you can also use the "Claypot" mode to prepare authentic claypot rice by adding meat, vegetables, mushrooms and etc (refer to the given recipe book for more detail)  

(Yield: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
200g white rice
50g black cargo rice
50g red cargo rice
3 boneless chicken leg
3 slices ginger
1 stalk lemongrass
3 clove garlic
knot of pandan leaves

*note: 1 rice cooker cup = 150g rice

Method:
1. Mix all the grains together in a mixing bowl, rinse thrice and drain well. Set aside.

2. Set the rice cooker on "CLAY POT" mode (it has a preset 10 minutes preparation time), when the inner pot gets hot (around 2 minutes) add a bit of oil and saute ginger, lemongrass and garlic till fragrant.

3. Stir in rinsed rice and cook for 1 minute, add water to 2 cup (brown rice cooking) water line with pandan leave and press "Start/Stop" button to continue automatic rice cooking status.

4. When the rice mixture starts to bubble, add marinated chicken (lightly marinate the boneless chicken with grated ginger, salt, pepper & sesame oil) and place prepared fish on steam basket over the rice.

5. At the end of cooking time, the rice cooker will indicate a "Keep Warm" status to count the time of keeping warm (around 15 minutes). Open cooker lid and drizzle soy sauce mixture over the fish and let it keep warm with the rice until serving.

Steamed Threadfin with Soy Sauce
200g threadfin tail
3 cherry tomato, halved
4 brown button mushroom, halved
1 stall spring onion, cut into section
some wolfberies

Garlic Soy Sauce
1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
50ml hot water
1/2 tablespoon oil
2 clove garlic, minced
4 slices ginger, julienned

Method:
1. To prepare garlic soy sauce: Saute ginger with 1/2 tablespoon of oil till golden; remove and set aside. In the pan, add minced garlic and saute until almost brown.

2. Pour in water mixture (water, soy sauce & sugar), bring to simmer then transfer sauce into a small bowl.

3. To assemble the fish: Put fish on a steaming plate with some spring onion below. Top it with mushrooms, tomatoes, woflberries and remaining spring onion then place on steam basket.

MIXED GRAIN CONGEE
(with pork ribs, sweetcorn, carrot, potato & pumpkin)

To be honest this is my first time cooking congee using a rice cooker. All along I have being cooking porridge/congee over the stove and from time to time I have to keep an eye on it to prevent overflow or burnt at the bottom of the pot.

Now with my new cooker, cooking my boy's favourite congee has become a breeze because I just need to add in all the ingredients and with a touch of the button pipping hot meal is ready in an hour. Furthermore the texture of the congee still taste smooth and perfect with the adding of the mixed grain. Perhaps I shall try using this function to cook "tau suan" (mung bean dessert) soon.

(Yield: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 40 minutes)

Ingredients:
50g white rice
25g black cargo rice
150g pork ribs
1 sweetcorn, cut into section
1 small carrot, cut into 1" cubes
1 medium potato, cut into 1" cubes
100g pumpkin, cut into 1" cubes
1 dried oyster or scallop, optional
some spring onion

*note: 1 rice cooker cup = 150g rice

Method:
1. Rinse and drain mixed grains then set aside while blanching the pork ribs.

2. Set rice cooker on "CONGEE" mode for 60 minutes. Preheat inner pot for 2 minutes, add 1/2 teaspoon of oil and a slice of ginger then seared the pork ribs and dried oyster before adding carrot & potato.

3. Give the mixture a few toss for 30 seconds, add sweet corn and water up to 0.6 - 0.8 cup (porridge cooking) water line.

4. Next add in rinsed mixed grain and continue automatic cooking.

5. Stir in pumpkin and top with spring onion on the last 20 minutes.

6. At the end of cooking time, the rice cooker will indicate a "Keep Warm" status to count the time of keeping warm (around 10 minutes). So meanwhile you can still add in some extra hot water if the congee is too thick then let it stand on keep warm mode till serving.

FISH SOUP WITH STEAMED RICE

I am sure everyone loves one-pot meal just as what I do because it means less washing and cleaning up. Now we can enjoy a pot of home cook soup with vegetables, tofu and fish plus steamed rice in less than an hour time. You can also do it at your end by loading all ingredients and rice into the cooker, set it on automatic cooking then you can go ahead to take a shower before dinner is ready.

(Yield: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 40 minutes)

Ingredients:
200g fish fillet, sliced 1/2" thick
30g dried anchovies, rinse and put in stock bag
50g salted vegetable (咸菜), cut into thick slices
1 piece silken tofu (300g), cut into chunks
2 slices ginger
4 cherry tomato
3 leaf of napa cabbage, sliced
some spring onion

Steamed Rice
250g white rice
280ml warm water
drizzle of cooking oil, optional
a knot of pandan leave, optional

Method:
1. Rinse rice and place it in a heatproof bowl together with 280ml of warm water and pandan leave. Set aside.

2. Set rice cooker on "SOUP" mode for 50 minutes. Preheat inner pot and add 1/2 teaspoon of oil to saute ginger, spring onion & fish bone (lightly marinate with cooking wine and cornstarch) till fragrant.

3. Drizzle some cooking wine then add salted vegetables (rinse a few time before using), tomato and water to 0.6 cup (porridge cooking) water line.

4. Add anchovies stock bag in the soup then place steam basket with rice on top and continue automatic cooking status.

5. During the last 15 minutes cooking time, remove fish bone and anchovies bag then add in tofu, vegetables and fish.

6. Everything is ready by the end of cooking time and you get to enjoy a bowl of hearty soup with warm rice.

These are some of the brands of mixed grain which I use to mix or add in to my white rice while preparing our meals. My ratio for mixed grain to white is 1 : 3 (example: 1/4 cup red, brown and/or black to 3/4 cup white).

This 1-litre Tefal Advanced Rice Cooker (can cook up to 6 cups of rice) has an innovative spherical pot orbed at 62 degree angle at the brim and bottom to encourage heat circulation during cooking. The cooker also come from 10 preset cooking programs such as: White rice, Brown rice, Glutinous rice, Porridge, Congee, Claypot, Steam, Soup, Reheat and Keep Warm.

What we like about this cooker is how effortlessly it delivery fluffy grains of white rice as well as brown, mixed grain and glutinous rice without the need of soaking the grains in advance. Furthermore light cooking such as stir-fry (claypot mode) and stew can also be done within an hour or so using preset automatic cooking mode for even 1 serving size.

Tefal Advanced Rice Cooker RK8115 (retail at $179) is available at major department and electrical stores. For more information about Tefa cookware, please visit the website for more details.


* Disclosure: We were given a set of the Advanced Spherical Pot Rice Cooker from Tefal Singapore for this review purpose but all opinions expressed in this post are of my own and there is no monetary compensation received.