The health cooker

UPON arriving in Zhuhai, near Macao and Hong Kong, after three years in Southwest China, where the only real western restaurant 10 years ago was at the Holiday Inn, I asked, to my future demise, "Is there a McDonald's here?"

Soon I found myself having most breakfasts there and, for lunch, either burgers or going to KFC where I could point to the food pictures. It was comforting to know that, unlike in a Chinese restaurant, I would get exactly what I ordered.

However, I put on weight – a lot of it. But that was the minor damage. Far worse was yet to come.

Chinese food cooked at home was wonderful, but soon I discovered that one could cook everything from vegetables and rice to meatballs and chicken in the microwave. So I did, thinking it must be healthier than frying in oil or boiling away the nutrients.

Well, I even reheated cheeseburgers in the microwave!

Meanwhile, the rice cooker stayed in the cabinet. It was slow, old-fashioned, and an unnecessary inconvenience.

Years of that combination – American fast food loaded with preservatives and MSG, plus microwave-mutated foods packed with harmful free radicals – began taking their toll.

Skin rashes sent me to the hospital for all kinds of treatment, western and Chinese. Aching joints made it impossible to stand without support. Injuries, especially to the knees, were frequent. Hearing and vision impairment came and went. Fatigue. Rapid heart beat. Anxiety and nervousness. …

"But you look so healthy," my students exclaimed in a three-hour class during which I never sat down or stood still. "How do you do it?"

"Well," I replied, "I drink green and flower tea instead of coffee or soda. I eat like the Chinese: a wide variety of vegetables with small amounts meat along with rice. I avoid fast-food restaurants and insist on no MSG.

"And I make or reheat 95 per cent of my meals in the rice cooker."

Seriously, I pulled the rice cooker out from under the counter and slid the microwave in its place. Good riddance to it.

Now, as the rice cooks or water boils down below (perhaps containing corn, sausage or noodles), the vegetables and meat steam healthily above.

Use your rice cooker. To me, it's such a life-saver that I often use two at a time.

And stay out of the hospital.

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