I’m somewhat ashamed to say that for a middle-aged Filipino, I’ve never ever bought a rice cooker.
When I was living in the States, I remember getting a hand-me down from a friend who’d moved on to another phase in her life. It cooked well enough and I was more than happy to continue using something that worked perfectly fine. I had to give it up when I moved to the Netherlands where the person I lived with already had one of his own. Even when my partner and I eventually moved into our own flat, I still didn’t get one as I thought it impractical since I’d be the only one using it. Needless to say, my partner’s diet is typically Dutch – which means it’s all about the bread and potatoes.

In any case, my friend Anthony, ever so generous, on his last visit decided to buy one in Manila and lug it all the way to Amsterdam! And it wasn’t just a regular rice cooker either – not only does it cook rice, it also steams dimsum and cooks congee. And as with all rice cookers, there was no need to watch it like a hawk as I did before with my trusty saucepan – no more eating burnt carbohydrates.

At the end of a mere 10 minutes or so, and with the help of my favorite Cantonese restaurant nearby, I was enjoying a mouth-watering plate of pan-fried pork with the most perfectly steamed white rice. Thank you, Anthony, simple pleasures really are the best.