Kids Web Japan

Electric rice cookers can do many things besides cooking rice. With a rice cooker, it's easy to make cakes and breads, stewed dishes like beef stew, and steamed dishes like dumplings. There are even cookbooks full of recipes that use the rice cooker. Rice cookers have grown into versatile cooking devices.

How is the rice cooker doing overseas? Electric rice cookers are used in other countries where rice is eaten a lot, especially in Southeast Asia. But most of the products used in these countries have only the cooking function.

One of the World Series rice cookers (Panasonic)



This cooker is ideal for use as a steamer. (Panasonic)

Matsushita, though, sells rice cookers designed specifically for overseas customers, aptly named the World Series. About eight million units of this best-selling series have been shipped to a total of 45 countries and regions. The requirements of a good rice cooker depend on the country, because different kinds of rice are eaten in different places, and dishes made with rice vary from one region to another.

The World Series rice cookers were created so that they could be used even in countries where rice is not the staple food. The basic design is the same in every model, and the functions are simple. But modifications have been made to satisfy the needs of customers in each country, including a glass lid that allows the user to see inside while the rice is cooking and various attachments, such as a steaming basket. In the United States the World Series rice cooker is often used as a steamer. Other manufacturers export rice cookers too, though theirs are high-performance models that mostly target Japanese people living overseas.

Japan and the rest of Asia are increasingly a focus of global attention, and rice is a central part of Asian food culture. Maybe soon everyone around the world will use an electric rice cooker to cook delicious rice every time.