Make Chocolate Cake (and More) With a Rice Cooker

From chicken rice to chili to chocolate cake, it is possible to make the laziest piece of equipment in your kitchen even lazier.

Rice Cooker Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 pack of your favorite dark chocolate pre-made mix
• Butter and lots of it
• Chocolate Toblerone
• Salt

Instructions

• Take some butter and coat the whole inside of the rice cooker. Make sure that your bowl is non-stick.
• Mix the pack of chocolate cake pre-mix according to the instructions, add a pinch of salt and pour the whole thing in.
• Take about seven pieces of toblerone (i go for the nougat kind) and place them in the middle.
• If you have settings, place it on low-medium and press cook. If it tells you it's ready, it’s not. Press cook again. Do this for about two hours, or until you can tell it’s mostly cooked through.
• Either flip the bowl onto a plate or eat it straight from the bowl.
• Pat yourself on the back, you lazy bastard.

Rice Cooker Chicken Rice

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg of boneless chicken thighs
• 3 cups of long grain rice
• 6 cups of water
• 1 tbsp of Hainan chicken paste
• 1 sliced chili
• 1 sliced red onion
• Coriander
• 2 green onions
• Chicken marinade: 1 tbsp of ginger, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of oyster sauce, 1 tbsp of plum sauce, pepper, 1 tsp of sesame oil, 4 chopped garlic cloves, 1 tsp of flour, 3 tbsp of chinese wine, salt, 1 tbsp of sriracha

Instructions

• Mix the marinade with the chicken and let sit for at least three hours.
• In the rice cooker, start cooking the rice with the Hainan chicken paste (mixed in the water).
• In a pan, fry off the chicken with the chili and one red onion until half cooked.
• Add the chicken to the rice and cover the rice cooker. (Just the chicken, no need to pour in the extra sauce.)
• Once the rice is fully cooked, check the doneness of the chicken.
• Serve and top off with the extra sauce if needed and some sliced green onions and coriander.

Rice Cooker Chili

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 2 diced carrots
• 2 diced bell peppers
• 1 diced onion
• 2 diced garlic cloves
• 1 diced red onion
• 1 drained can of black beans
• 1 drained can of white beans
• 1 can of lentils (juice included)
• 1 tbsp of chili
• 1 tbsp of cumin
• 1 large can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 can of chicken broth
• 1 tbsp of dried oregano
• Sour cream
• Pickled jalapeño
• Cilantro
• 1 avocado
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

• Fry all the fresh vegetables together until just soft.
• Put them in the rice cooker, along with everything else (except for the sour cream, avocado, and jalapeño).
• Put your rice cooker on and leave for 45 minutes.
• Check it after 40 to make sure the desired consistency isn’t achieved yet.
• Season to taste, top with a tbsp of sour cream, some sliced avocado, cilantro, and some pickled jalapeño.

This article originally appeared in the July 2013 issue of Esquire Philippines. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.