Good Food
The rice cooker: liberating generations of chefs
Cooking rice on a wood burning stove was an art, says Anne Ewbank. Around 1945, engineer Masaru Ibuka started a small company in an abandoned department store that fixed radios.
By Evan Kleiman • • 1 min readCooking rice on a wood burning stove was an art, says Anne Ewbank. Around 1945, engineer Masaru Ibuka started a small company in an abandoned department store that fixed radios. His team was often paid in rice, and their first invention was a rice cooker. Ibuka eventually founded Sony. Ewbank documents the history of rice cookers in her piece for Atlas Obscura.
The full episode
5 of 6
Rice: how we grow, cook, and eat it- 0:00Using a ‘ricebreaker’ to start a conversation about cultural identity
- 9:49How did rice find its way to the American South?
- 20:14Growing Japanese rice in California
- 31:14Stirring up controversy in a paella pan
- 40:41The rice cooker: liberating generations of chefsYou’re reading this
- 49:15‘In the Weeds’: golden, crispy domes bring solace
The full episode
5 of 6Rice: how we grow, cook, and eat it- 0:00Using a ‘ricebreaker’ to start a conversation about cultural identity
- 9:49How did rice find its way to the American South?
- 20:14Growing Japanese rice in California
- 31:14Stirring up controversy in a paella pan
- 40:41The rice cooker: liberating generations of chefsYou’re reading this
- 49:15‘In the Weeds’: golden, crispy domes bring solace