Please meet Kamado san - aka here as Ksan.    There is a reason this gorgeous pot was awarded Japan's good design award,simply it makes the perfect rice, think fluffy grains, the taste in your mouth - oishii!!  And not just white rice, brown rice, quinoa, etc.. you can also ad veggies & proteins to make one pot dishes with it.  Take the inner lid off and you have a versatile hot pot, for soups, stews, chanko nabe.  And why put it away, it is such a beauty.

This pot is made by  Nagatani-en, THE most trusted name in IGA-yaki pottery.  The Nagatani family has been making pottery since 1838.  These are a Japanese national treasure and take about two weeks for each donabe to be made, each is fired twice at high heat.  Each piece is hand crafted and colors might vary every so slightly by piece.   

Early on in the shop I mistakenly called it the Kamodo san as in dragon in Japanese, as the steam release is key in cooking the rice.  I still kind of like thinking of this as the majestic dragon rice cooker.  

SEASONING: How to season your "Kamado san" aka Ksan

1. Please make sure your Ksan is dry before seasoning
2. Pour 70% of the Ksan full with water and then add cooked rice.  Make sure the rice is defrosted if using frozen.  Stir well.  BTW leftover rice is perfect to use or in a quick pinch buy a carton to go from your local Asian food restaurant.
3. Put both the lids on.  Make sure the holes of the lids are perpendicular to one another) then cook the rice at medium-low heat for on the stove (gas ONLY).  Once the mixture starts to simmer (approx 10 minutes), remove the lids and continue cooking on low heat until the mixture becomes like paste.  Do not let the mixture boil, stirring sometimes to the bottom is not burned
4. Turn of the heat and cool down the rice mixture in the pot for 1 hour.
5. Remove rice mixture from your Ksan. Rinse and dry Ksan thoroughly.

COOKING THE RICE: Show me perfection*

Once you set the heat to medium-high level on the stove-top, you don’t need to readjust the heat level until it’s done. (The ideal heating level may vary depending on the type of burner.) The bottom of Kamado-san is about 1.5 times thicker than a regular donabe and its porous clay body “breathes” during cooking. So, the clay builds the heat slowly and gently starts cooking the rice. Then, once the heat is built, it brings the even and steady heat distribution. Meanwhile, the unique feature of double-lid gives the effect of pressure-cooking and helps prevent the contents from boiling over. The thick porous body has an extra-high level of heat retention ability, so after the heat is turned off, Kamado-san slowly cools down and continues to steam-cook the rice during the resting time. As a result, the rice tends to become fluffy and shiny when it’s cooked with Kamado-san.

*don't get us wrong, we are not exactly perfectionists and we are ok with that, there is nothing really perfect we think.  We just think when we follow the directions and use this pot, rice is pretty close to perfect.  Some of the best restaurants in Japan agree, as they serve a little Kamado san to your table.  Yum.

5 Rice-Cup Size

3 Rice-Cup Size 

2 Rice-Cup Size