Everyone is so obsessed with air fryers. I’ll never fully understand why everyone gets so excited about something their oven can do. Especially when all that excitement should be dedicated towards rice cookers instead. For years I’ve threatened to buy a top rice cooker, and I finally have. The Xiaomi MFB120A-1 3L Multifunctional Smart Rice Cooker has made making perfect rice at home every time a doddle. I love it. Here’s why.
Common Rice Cooking Problems Solved
Now, to start out, if you can’t remember the last time you ate or cooked rice, this probably isn’t the review for you. I’m not really sure how you ended up here. Because I’ve ended up here after years of using a €20 rice cooker I bought in Argos or microwaving €2.50 packs from Asia Market and telling myself I really need to learn how to make amazing rice at home.
I was utterly tired of either mushy rice, rice being overcooked or rice being stuck to whatever I’m cooking it in. Everyone says making amazing rice at home isn’t overly difficult, yet I’ve only managed it since getting this new smart Xiaomi rice cooker. The smart part really isn’t all that important, but it’s how I pass this as a business expense (that’s a joke, but really maybe it shouldn’t be).
My old rice cooker had lost a lot of the non-stick surface which meant I was getting rice sticking to the base, crusting to itself, or burning.
You will probably laugh at how passionately I speak about the Xiaomi rice cooker, but it really makes me want to cook rice dishes on a regular basis. No more mushy rice or constant checking. The smart rice cooker promises foolproof results and consistent texture, from fluffy basmati to perfect sushi rice.
Smart Features & Daily Use
I’m going to start with a sizeable criticism of the rice cooker. You need to be a little organised. Perfect rice, as simple as it seems, requires time. This rice cooker generally needs an hour to make perfect rice. Normally not an issue because dinner takes time in general, but if you just realised you’re hungry in a hurry – it’s not ideal.
But that small criticism aside, it really does make amazing rice. You can fully control this smart rice cooker on the cooker itself, but I like using the app. It’s wild, but you can plug in the exact type of rice you’re making and the cooker will make some small adjustments to make sure it cooked to perfection.
I’ve made basmati rice and Japanese rice – both taking an hour and both being absolutely perfect. If you’re making something like brown rice, the cooking time will go closer to an hour and forty-five minutes, and congee (a type of rice porridge that is popular across many Asian countries) around an hour and a half. Each mode tweaks the cooking time and heat profile to suit the grain, so brown rice gets the extra time it needs to soften, while congee is gently simmered into a porridge.
A massive bonus with the model of rice cooker I bought is the steaming tray. I line this with a bit of baking paper and put frozen dumplings in for the last 25 minutes with the rice. When the rice is done, I then pop the dumplings on a pan to crisp them up (personal preference – you can just steam them). You can also steam vegetables – naturally.
The rice cooker will keep the rice nice and warm without drying out for as long as need. In fact, it can go for a day keeping rice warm. Recently, I tested out reheating rice too. I put in a few spoons of water (far less than the 1:1 cups of water:rice for cooking) and it reheated it perfectly. So no harm making more than you need for lunch.
I do have to say that the smart features are very much a “nice to have”. I don’t need an app-controled rice cooker I can tweak from outside my home, but I can. I guess if I was to read more into it, I’d find that some people set it up in the morning and have it come on during the day at some stage so the rice is cooked just as I come in. Now, I use the smart features – but they are not essential.
Buying the Xiaomi 3L Smart Rice Cooker
If you are in the market for a new rice cooker, I can strongly recommend this one. And I’ll wrap that up below in terms of why I love it. But I need to tell you where I bought mine.
Over the past few years, I’ve been to South Korea, Japan and China. I love the culture and the food. Having some insider information on how to buy goods from so far away is helpful. I’m very fortunate to have a Chinese friend that helps me navigate these kinds of purchases.
She introduced me to Ochama. Ochama operates in 24 European countries, most importantly including Ireland. This same rice cooker would have cost me nearly €65 on Amazon.ie. To buy from Ochama, it cost just €39.99. Delivery cost €11.99 but I got a €5 off voucher, meaning I still got a great deal.
Ochama is one of those websites that you could easily spend a fortune on. Not because of the prices, but because they have so many interesting products, including grocerics beyond electronics.
Really, I only wanted and probably needed a 1.5L rice cooker. But bizzarely this model was cheaper despite being bigger. I had seen several restaurants in China using Xiaomi cookers at your table, so I figured it would be a sound purchase.
It is important to note that this cooker came with an EU two-prong plug. You’ll either need an adapter or alternate cable for it.
Xiaomi Smart Rice Cooker: The Goosed Verdict
If you like cooking, particularly dishes with rice, it’s an absolute no brainer to have a good rice cooker. I’ve used this cooker to make katsu curry, various bowls, including Mexican style dishes too. I often find myself discovering plenty of healthy recipes with rice at their core and these dishes are often perfect for meal preps, particularly if you get yourself a bento box for lunches.
Being able to cook great rice, should trump everything you can do in an airfrier (assuming you do have an oven too).
The Xiaomi smart rice cooker is available for under €50, which to me is affordable. Now, you may be able to get other rice cookers that are just as good, cheaper, without smart features etc. But this happens to be the one that I bought, thinking it was good value and having the seal of approval from a Chinese friend make it a no brainer purchase for me. Every single time I’ve used it since, I’ve said to myself – that’s money well spent. I would have been happy with the 1.5L model, but happy I have the extra capacity for some sort of emergency or lunches!
Checking out Ochama means you can easily get this rice cooker delivered to Ireland too, an app/website I’ve used myself and am happy with.
