freak engrish instruction do not explicitly tell you how to cook rice . they do not even imply it . they do not say add rice to the bowl , then add water to the indicated level on the bowl . it take I three batch of rice before I figure it out . I be fill up the bowl with water to the indicated mark , then add rice . way too much water . after make rice pudding several time , add less and less water each time , I finally figure out you be suppose to add the rice to the bowl , then add the water to the indicated mark . now that I have figure that out , it seem to be do a good job .