When I come home and cook rice in the electric pressure cooker, I always hear the same sound.

At first, it's quiet, but then at some point, I hear the "chick-chick" sound of steam escaping.

Every time I hear that sound, it makes me feel good for no particular reason. It's the thought that warm rice will soon be ready.

Sometimes, while listening to that sound, I think it's a reminder of how incredible human technology has become.

Just washing the rice and pressing a button makes the rice ready. It's truly amazing when you think about it.

Inside the rice cooker, the temperature and pressure of the water are automatically adjusted. The machine determines how well the rice is cooked and times it accordingly.

We just have to wait. Sometimes, that "chick-chick" sound feels like a signal that a small factory is running inside the house.

Thinking about this naturally brings to mind stories from the past.

Two hundred years ago, during the Joseon Dynasty, cooking rice was not as simple as it is now.

One had to light a fire in the kitchen stove with firewood or straw and put rice and water in a large pot. If the fire was too strong, the rice would burn, and if it was too weak, it would be undercooked. They must have constantly monitored the fire's intensity. Cooking rice was not just a matter of pressing a button; it was a significant skill.

There must have been sounds back then too. When the water started to boil, the pot lid would shake slightly, and steam would rise. However, I think that sound would have felt very different from the sound we hear from a pressure cooker today. Back then, it was the sound created by fire, water, and human hands working together.

Now, the situation has changed a lot. The electric pressure cooker does most of the work for us.

After pressing a button, we can do other things. I sometimes leave the rice cooker on while I work on the computer, exercise, or just sit on the couch and relax. Thanks to technology, our time has become a bit more leisurely.

When I think about it this way, the small sound from the pressure cooker seems to represent not just a simple household noise but also how much the world has changed. The advancements in industry and science have ultimately made their way into our kitchens.

Sometimes I imagine this: If people from 200 years ago in Joseon saw my kitchen today, what would they think? If rice could be made without lighting a fire, and the pot could automatically adjust the temperature and finish cooking warm rice, it might have seemed like magic.

However, I don't think the old ways were entirely bad. The smell of firewood burning in the pot and the warmth of the kitchen as the rice cooked created a wonderful atmosphere as families waited together during that time.

Still, every time I hear the "chick-chick" sound from the rice cooker, I feel good for no particular reason. It makes me think that even in the small objects we use every day, there is wisdom and the progress of many years.

This small rice cooker, which completes rice with just one button, contains the science and efforts accumulated over hundreds of years.

The steam rising from the pot two hundred years ago and the steam coming from the pressure cooker today ultimately creates the same rice, but in between, there seems to be a long, quiet story of time and civilization.