Can plain ol’ rice be the star of your dish? Of course it can, if you use it creatively rice can be the tastiest ingredient ever. September is National Rice Month, probably the best month of the year for Zojirushi fans. Let’s celebrate by cooking all things rice!
One of my favorite uses for our rice cooker is to make mixed rice in it, aka takikomi gohan. It’s because it turns rice into a meal in itself, and the cooker does all the work. This recipe is from Okonomi Kitchen, a very hearty take on it with big chunks of chicken. Our twist on it was to make kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) as a side dish at the same time.
The Zojirushi Umami Rice Cooker doesn’t really have a mixed rice setting, but it does come with a steamer basket. What a concept! Not only will it do the mixed rice in the pot, it steams the pumpkin at the same time.
What’s the definition of a one-pot meal? When you can cook all the ingredients together at the same time, and out pops a complete meal! If you use your rice cooker as your pot, you can always turn your rice into something tastier than you thought possible.
So I’ve got this friend who can only eat gluten-free, and when we went out to lunch together I was surprised at how little the options were when it came to Asian food. You can find it anywhere on Western menus, but less so on Asian menus. But that’s where rice comes to the rescue, right?
Zojirushi has a gluten-free bread that uses 100% rice flour on their site, so I decided to try baking it. It came out very golden yellow, but I think it’s because it uses a lot of eggs—3 eggs for my 1-pound loaf. It tasted pretty good, but I wish it had less air pockets. Again, maybe too much yeast? But it called for 1 Tbsp. for my size loaf; probably need it for it to rise properly.
As it was, it caved in a little at the top, but it still made a decent loaf. I would toast this one and butter it; the improvement in taste is significant, but maybe it’s because I’m not used to gluten-free bread.
I found another recipe for a blend of regular bread flour and rice flour, where the main purpose was to use the rice flour to make the bread fluffier. This was from an aggregate recipe site called Cookpad, but it worked out for me because she happened to be using a 1-pound bread machine like mine. And you know what? This loaf turned out to be the best one I’ve ever baked! Very soft, very flavorful and I would highly recommend it if you don’t need it to be gluten-free.
BTW, the ingredient for rice flour is listed as joshinko, Japanese for bread flour, made from short grain rice that is the same rice eaten at meals. The mildly sweet taste really added to this bread. Do not confuse this with mochiko, which is used to make the sticky, chewy mochi.
Here they are both side-by-side, lightly toasted, buttered and ready to eat!
Zojirushi also has a surprising recipe on their site for Cheese Senbei, Japanese rice crackers that you can easily do with your microwave. If you haven’t tried this, it’s kind of a great idea for leftover rice; especially if you only have that one cup left and you hate to waste. All you do is blend all the ingredients in a plastic bag and smash it flat.
Then you pop it in your microwave to bake it and dry it out so all the moisture leaves the rice.
This is one of the more interesting recipes I’ve tried from Zojirushi. It’s fun to make, fun to eat, and easy if you use your microwave. I’m thinking there’s lots of room for experimenting and customizing with this one. The cheese flavor does come through, but maybe I’ll try basting it with soy sauce next time.
What will you do for National Rice Month? A few years ago I made Pepper Rice at home in my electric skillet, which was a hit with my family. Check it out and try!
And for more rice ideas, roll your own Korean kimbap for a different take on sushi if you’ve never tried it. Just find a recipe online and see if you like it—it’s a nice change of pace.
It’s definitely more colorful than Japanese sushi.
But the technique is the same and the results are just as satisfying.
Then for dessert go more exotic with Mango Sticky Rice, the national dessert of Thailand, which has been around since the Siamese Imperial Court in the 18th Century. This is just the perfect way to finish off National Rice Month, agree?
Products used in this post: Umami® Rice Cooker and Warmer NL-GAC 10/18, Home Bakery Maestro® Breadmaker BB-SSC10,
Please note that these recipes were not tested by Zojirushi America
All images by Bert Tanimoto ©2025
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