Another dumpling rice dinner tonight. The temperature goes from hi–80° to hi–40° in the span of 12 hours so I usually don’t want to turn on the oven but at the same time I want something warm and comforting to eat as the evening grows cold. I had sliced zucchini and Italian squash to use as well as blocks of fried tofu. I had some shrimp har gow as well as pork gyoza in the freezer to toss in on top. I think what really helps when doing this is making sure that the broth in your rice has sesame seed oil as well as garlic, ginger, and shoyu. That seems to round the taste out the best. I also added some crushed up fried onions on top for crunch but I suppose you could do that with toasted panko as well.

This is definitely a dish where you have to trust the process and be sure to wash the rice cooker very well when you’re done. I probably could have added a fried egg on top of this one but I just really didn’t want to deal with it because I’m trying to get a plot worked out.

These types of rice cooker dishes are very easy to throw together and don’t necessarily have to be Asian either. I imagine you could do something like chicken and dumplings if you have a gravy warming up in a pot on the stove to pour on top. Or perhaps something more Hispanic inspired. I just go for my comfort foods. But I am willing to explore.