Thank You Mr. Postman

Look what the postman brought me after a quick click of the mouse on the internet. I have been saving my pennies for months to purchase this beauty and scouring internet ads. Thanks to all of the good advice from my friends on Just Bento.com I decided on the 10 cup version since I have a big family. I think they will be seeing a lot of rice this year. One of my new years resolutions is to enjoy my home appliances more and cook away. The simple pleasures in a very busy world.

Rapid Bento #11 Steamed Pork Bun and Onigiri

This bento is composed of a steamed pork bun, edamame, dried apricots, cherry tomatoes, fat-free turkey hot dog skewer and mustard. Although it is not very creative, I think I got most of my colors in and it should be tasty. This bento is for my daughter and I made a twin for myself. I have never tried pork buns before but I have seen them in a lot of cookbooks so I thought I would give it a go. This one was purchased flash frozen and I steamed it in my rice cooker with the bamboo basket. Fifteen minutes from start to finish, not bad. Still no sugar cookies, had to make a mad dash to Micheals to buy an artist canvas for a last minute school project for daughter #2. The project turned out great. I ran out of steam. There's always tomorrow...

Little Bamboo Steamer

I love goyza and dim sum either hot or cold in my bento. I do not like to eat fried foods. For this reason I was happy to learn how to steam these foods in my rice cooker. It is quick and easy to do right after supper while the dishes being washed. I simply add a small amount of water to the bottom of the rice cooker, insert bottom tier of mini steamer, fill with goyza, top with second tier , fill and add rice cooker top. The bamboo top does not fit. Hit cook. The foods will steam faster than the rice setting usually in about 5 minutes so I have keep an eye on them and not rely on the timer. When the wrappers look translucent they are ready to go. I have tried this with frozen and homemade goyza and it works well for both. My next challenge is to experiment with rice and vegetable combinations in my rice cooker. I have instructions for this process that came with the rice cooker but I am a little tentative since my rice cooker is a cheapy version and I don't want to push it's limits. Why tempt fate, although Christmas is just around the corner and I have spied some really nice one's on amazon.