One trick is that if you're working with meats and vegetables, getting an oil that goes to really high temperatures and getting it to that temperature is generally good. Most Asian people I've known use canola or corn oil, and over a flame rather than an electric element is generally preferred on a stovetop.

For fried rice, an easy option is spam (you'd be surprised how good this is - you can go lighter on the soy sauce, and heavy on mixed vegetables). Also, when using frozen mixed vegetables, I personally recommend picking out the green beans because their taste is too strong. When I make fried rice I cook everything separately - steam or boil the vegetables, fry the egg, fry the meat, chuck it all together with a bit of extra oil and the rice, add the soy sauce and toss it around for a while.

I also like doing chicken fried rice, which just requires time cutting the chicken into tiny pieces and marinating it (I typically use a mix of soy sauce, chili sauce, and a sweet sauce (sweet and sour, duck sauce, or just sugar).

When working with broccoli, I always like to boil/steam it separately. Sautee garlic in peanut oil (at least, that's what I prefer) until just brown, then throw in broccoli, sautee for about 2-3 minutes, then add about half an inch of water and cover. Let it boil/steam until the broccoli is a vivid green, then drain any remaining water and either eat the broccoli like that or toss it into already cooked meat and sauce for chicken or beef and broccoli.

Is that a serious question? I don't know anyone who owns a rice cooker, everyone I've ever met just cooks it in a pan, rocket science it ain't.

There's a world of difference between actual Indian cuisine and the stuff they serve in Indian restaurants elsewhere in the world. If anything, most of the stuff you get in British Indian restaurants is British cuisine more than anything.

"Asian food" is a helluva general phrase though. Asia's a big old place and you'll find if you look into it that the cuisine in Goa is totally different from the food from Kashmir or Punjab or anywhere else in India and Pakistan.

If you're serious about it, buy a decent cookbook. Amazon is chock full of cookery books and a decent one will include technique hints as well as recipes.

Well, the question was asking more how difficult it is to cook in a pot rather than a rice cooker. Everyone I know who makes rice uses a rice cooker, and everyone in this thread had been giving directions based on using one as well. Obviously it's possible through many methods.

Most of the people that own rice cookers are people that cook it practically every night. For us whities that will only cook rice once a week at most it's not that useful of a tool, but for pretty much everyone else in the world it's not a terrible investment.

(Also, saw a $300 rice cooker at the asian market that I wanted to buy because it cooked normal rice in less than 5 minutes and had all these crazy presettings I had no idea how to read.)

Just buy one of those $10 rice cookers where you pour in the rice and water and then microwave it for like ten minutes.