Nonconventional Use of My Rice Cooker Take 1: Steamed Pumpkin

Before I met Kwang I had never owned, used or lived with a rice cooker. Of course this all changed and no longer am I allowed to make rice on a stove top. However, this machine perplexes me as so much other food could be prepared within its non-stick steam pot.

Pumpkin is hugely popular in Korea. It's used in baked goods, rice dishes, bar food and soup year round. I love it because it's sweet and reminds me of acorn squash. I decided to take a stab at steaming some pumpkin in the rice cooker.

I flavored it with some pepper, hit the switch and 20 minutes later had super soft, tender pumpkin to eat. I don't quite understand how the rice cooker switches from cooking mode into warm mode, I'm assuming some sort of internal thermometer meter, but the pumpkin didn't need to cook quite as long. Overall, it was a success! The outside skin peels right off and the sweet pumpkin was delicious.