Instructions

1. Open your rice ball cooker and make sure it is thoroughly clean, inside and out.

2. Pour 1 to 3 tablespoons or so of oil on a paper towel and wipe it all around the inside of the rice ball cooker. This helps keep the rice from sticking to a perforated steel rice ball cooker but is not really necessary for a mesh one.

3. Fill the rice cooker half way with uncooked rice. The measurements don't have to be exact, but most rice ball cookers hold about 2 cups. Don't fill it more than half-way or the rice will not have enough room to expand.

4. Fill a large pot with water, and bring it to a boil.

5. Place the rice ball cooker into the boiling water, making sure that the chain stays draped outside of the pot so that you don't have to fish around in the boiling water to find it. Let the rice cook according to whatever kind of rice you are using. This will usually be between 14 and 20 minutes, but brown rice can take longer.

6. Use a potholder to remove the rice ball by its chain. Dangle it above the pot until all of the water drains out.

7. Open the rice ball cooker, using potholders, and empty the rice out into a large bowl.