Tatung Electric Cooker (2022)
foodnetwork.com
foodnetwork.com
And isn't "use your rice cooker to bake a cake" one of those food hack ideas I see endlessly brought up?
It could be a paid piece, but Yun Hai doesn't really fit the profile of larger companies which typically do that sort of thing. It's more of a small family/community-supporting company. It probably turns a decent profit now but felt like a lifestyle business when they were a bit smaller.
Yun Hai did put out a LOT of marketing and storytelling about the Tatung steamer they started offering about 12 months ago, and likely the author felt the information provided by Yun Hai would make it super easy to write a unique article.
Edit: I have this Tatung steamer and I've not figured out a great use-case for it. I don't often put in the effort to make the types of dishes that would be most appropriate for it, and I prefer the simple wooden basket stovetop steamers for heating up dumplings or steaming Bok Choy / snow-pea leaves. The Tatung steamer has a surprising number of combinatorics that you can arrange the interior pieces into, and it's never very clear what the correct arrangement is for the dish I'm cooking. I think if you grew up in a culture of using this type of appliance you'd know how to use it as second-nature, but as someone who didn't grow up in an East Asian culture or family, I'm often at a loss for how to use it and it mostly sits unused.
That said, the foods offered by Yun Hai are fucking outstanding.
> And isn't "use your rice cooker to bake a cake" one of those food hack ideas I see endlessly brought up?
It's not really a rice cooker to be honest -- I think most people who own this would be more likely to use a Tiger or Zojirushi to cook rice, but I could be wrong. It's really more made for cooking steamed dishes. It would only generally be used to cook "cakes" that are specifically designed to be cooked by steaming, which are fairly common recipes in Dim Sum but I don't think you'd want to try to cook western style cakes in it.
Also, the direct link to the store to buy it is behind at least two seperate ublock origin ad filters. Even if the entire thing wasn't paid for by Yun Hai, they're definitely paying for that link.
>It's not really a rice cooker to be honest
It's sold as a "Tatung Electric Rice Cooker and Steamer." The also advertised cookbook contains a recipe for a black sugar cake that looks like a fairly standard Western cake.
I understand that the glowing reccomendation is unusual and out of place. But we're in a world where it's increasingly difficult to find decent retailers and even more difficult to find decent authentic reviews. If there's something that I know is amazing quality, I'm going to tell people because I'd like them to tell me about great retailers and brands that they love.
In short, your criticism is useful feedback -- it's nice to know how my comment is received. But in all honestly I knew it sounded like a shill and I didn't really care because I truly believe in what I'm recommending and I think a lot of people here will love them. A more useful comment would tell me how I could change what I wrote to feel to feel more appropriate for HN while still communicating the important information about the brand.
That said, I am going to edit it to say that I have the Tatung steamer and I've not been impressed by it because I don't actually know how to use it and I don't often cook the type of foods that are most appropriate for it. I also upvoted the counterpoints from 'boomboomsubban
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What's a comparably simple alternative that also uses water in the outer bowl for uniform heating?
That said, a steamer pot? Or many other rice cookers.
Rice cookers: heat -> steel -> food
Steamer pot: heat -> steel -> water -> air -> basket -> food
Tatung: heat -> steel -> water -> steel -> fooddouble boiler: heat -> steel -> water -> steel -> food
(Off topic a little, but old appliances seem to last longer for being simpler. I have a washer/drier combo that's 29 years old; all they've needed were new belts around 10 years ago. My fridge is also 29 years old and works fine - does nothing but keep food cold, doesn't even have an ice dispenser.)
Thanks, could you share the model number?
iFixit has repair guides for a few rice cookers, including Tatung, https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Rice_Cooker
https://countryroadsmagazine.com/cuisine/Louisiana-foodways/...
Another historical tidbit, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/rice-cooker-history
> In 1945, while war-torn Japan faced years of rebuilding, an engineer named Masaru Ibuka opened a radio workshop ...Ibuka wrote down the words that would become iconic to the company that in 1958 would become known as Sony: “Purpose of incorporation: Creating an ideal workplace, free, dynamic, joyous.” ... Ibuka’s engineers lived in post-war Japan. Their payment for fixing radios often partly consisted of uncooked rice. This led to the fledgling company’s very first invention. Instead of a sleek radio, it was an electric rice cooker.
This recent “discovery” of sorts reminds me of how not long ago, social media started blowing up the awesomeness of using scissors in a kitchen / culinary setting - something that’s been a staple with Korean households and restaurants.
Using kitchen scissors more widely is the new thing.
– 100% Stainless steel inner pot and cover (no coating of any kind)
– Healthy cooking: cooks with steam to maintain nutrients
– Made in Taiwan
I agree with the other posters that this isn't really a great rice cooker, exactly - a fancy Zojirushi makes significantly better rice, every time, and sings while doing it.
However, this thing excels at steaming, or reheating, or making soup, and so it remains a fixture on our countertop.
Hope this helps explain why these things have a bit of a cult following.
Apparently it's on cans of Apple Sidra though, which I buy frequently. I think most Americans would love Apple Sidra, I serve it to most of my friends as the default "welcome beverage" when they arrive to my apartment.