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We’re suckers for a good rice cooker recipe and get even more excited when all you have to do is plop a few ingredients into the machine. So we were really happy when we found this super easy rice cooker recipe for “potato chip rice” from successful Japanese chef, Masahiro Kasahara, in his self-titled book, Masahiro Kasahara’s 30-minute Japanese Meals. With only three ingredients (four if you count the water), we were equally parts intrigued and wary as we set out to recreate his bizarre dish.

With enough doubt to fill our entire rice cooker, we started to get together the necessary ingredients. Although we weren’t sure if it would taste good, the recipe was so easy, we had barely anything to lose; all you need is potato chips, rice, and sesame seeds!

We started out with Kasahara’s recommended flavor of chips: Calbee usushio (light salt) potato chips.

▼ Just look for the orange bag with the light blue stripe!potechigo1

With all of the ingredients assembled, we were ready to get cooking. However, the recipe didn’t mention exactly how much of the bag of chips to use, leaving us with a lot of questions. The chips are lightly salted, so is more better? Or should we hold back on the chips so the rice isn’t too greasy? We finally decided to go with a ratio of 300g of rice to half a bag of chips. Emptying half of the chips (into our mouth), we crushed what remained in the bag:

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▼ All crunched up.potechigo2

Now with the chips prepared, it was time to get the rice ready. After adding in the rice and water to our rice cooker, we splashed in some sesame seeds and dumped in the chips, which floated on top of the water.

▼ So far, this recipe doesn’t look very promising…potechigo4

We closed the rice cooker, pushed the “on” button, and hoped for the best. The little “beeeeeeep” sounding off from the steaming rice cooker let us know our creation was complete. Flipping open the lid, here’s what we saw:

▼ It certainly looks edible…potechigo7

A few stirs of the rice paddle and a plop in our bowl, and we were ready to give potato chip rice a try.

▼ It looked completely normal hanging out in our rice bowl…potechigo8

Pinching a small clump of potato chip rice between our chopsticks, we went in for our first taste aaaaaand…

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It was as if the potato chips had turned back into potatoes, filling our rice with an extra fluffiness! Surprisingly, our potato chip rice also wasn’t salty at all, even though there were salty crisps sprinkled throughout, and for having half a bag of potato chips in it, the dish wasn’t heavy or greasy. In fact, it was so light we wouldn’t have guessed there were any deep fried potatoes in it at all. The flavor could almost be called “refined”, definitely not what we expected from such an easy to cook meal (or side dish). So if you really want to impress your friends and don’t have that much time or money, why not make potato chip rice? You can always tell them it’s “poached potato rice” and enjoy all their impressed eyebrow raises and jealous glances.

All photos (c) RocketNews24 / Khoa Dinh
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