The Stovetop Rice Cooker Used at Two-Star Ynyshir

Before electric cookers, Japanese rice was cooked in a clay pot over a flame, and many cooks still believe that gives the best result. The Hario rice cooker brings that method to a small pot with one clever addition: a domed heatproof glass lid, so you can watch the rice through every stage instead of guessing. The body is glazed ceramic, built for a gas flame, and the size is small, right for one to two servings of good rice cooked to order. Gareth Ward cooks on it at his two-Michelin-star Ynyshir in Wales. It comes from Hario, Japan's heatproof-glass maker since 1921.

Clay pot, glass lid: an old method made legible

Cooking rice in a donabe, a Japanese clay pot, over direct heat is the traditional way, valued for even heat and a clean, well-defined grain. The catch has always been that you cannot see in: timing the boil and the rest is done by ear, smell and experience. Hario, founded in 1921 and known above all for heatproof glass, answered that by topping a ceramic rice pot with a clear glass lid. The name Hario itself nods to glass. Now the whole cook is visible, the rolling boil, the starchy foam, the moment the surface dries and the steam holes open, so getting a good pot of rice is far less a matter of guesswork.

Learn more: Japanese Rice

Is stovetop rice better than an electric rice cooker?

Many cooks think so. A pot over a flame gives you direct control of the heat and a faster, more vigorous boil than most domestic electric cookers, which tends to produce a cleaner, more separate grain and, in a clay pot, a little prized crust at the base. The trade-off is attention: a stovetop pot needs watching, where an electric cooker is hands-off. The glass lid is what tips the balance back, since you can see exactly what the rice is doing and step in at the right moment. For a small, careful batch of good rice it is hard to beat; for large volumes held through a long service, an insulated container and a bigger system make more sense.

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