GOHAN Japanese rice, A to Z

RICE

The most important ingredient of Japanese cuisine is rice. Japanese rice are of the japonica style, they are round and firm. Outside Japan, you can get some sushi rice, or Italian arborio that are of japanica cultivar too. Sticky rice is a different type, it’s called mochigome in Japanese. Rice has different names in Japanese. Kome, okome, the plant. Gohan, meshi when it’s cooked…

how to cook Japanese rice (without a rice cooker)
genmai brown rice(healthier)
sticky rice

The bowl of unsalted, unflavored but perfectly cooked hot white rice is often present on the the table.
But, you have many variations.

onigiri
The rice “sandwich”. Shape hot rice in your hands.

basic
yaki onigiri (grilled)

domburi

Rice bowls : fill half of a big bowl with hot rice, add some toppings.

gyudon (beef)
tendon (tempura)
oyakodon (mama-baby, chicken egg)
soboro (sloppy joe domburi)
eight treasures

takikomi gohan

Flavored rice dishes. Ingredients are added in the rice-cooker. There are millions of possibilities. A few classics :

chicken rice
kaibashira (scallop)rice
oyster rice

sekihan (red rice)
mame gohan (green peas)
kuri gohan (chestnut)

sushi

Click here to go to the sushi compilation

Bento
Fill a part of your lunch box with rice.

midori okowa
chirashi bento
Unaju (eel)

yakigohan
Stir-fry your rice leftover :

nira fried rice
buta-kimchi rice (pork)
soba meshi (with noodles)

More elaborated dishes :

omurice (omelet filled with rice)
doria (retro baked rice)

o-cha-zuke

Okayu
Rice porridge, often a breakfast.

nanakusa okayu (7 herbs)
red okayu
umeboshi
salmon

More ?
Also see mochi (rice paste), and wagashi (Japanese sweets)

Soboro

Comfort domburi lunch… very filling.

Soboro is simply flavored ground meat (any meat, any flavor, even eggs…), cooked dry into a sand texture. Put that on top of your bowl (domburi) of rice… The other half is black ground sesame.

Miso soup with carrots and mitsuba.

Sashimi.

Natto on bean sprouts and mitsuba.

White wine kaki gohan (oyster rice)

Oyster season is starting.
This is simple and delicious. The recipe is often made with Japanese sake. I had white wine, so a new variation was created. Both versions are delicious.

I used genmai brown rice. It’s very easy :
Cook the rice in the rice-cooker with 2 tbs of white wine, 1 tbs of mirin, 1 tbs of soy sauce and of course water.
Then open the cooker, mix in julienned negi leeks, put a few oysters on top. Close and let on “keep warm mode” 10 minutes.

Top with more negi leeks.

The oysters are perfectly warm not really cooked, at their best. The rice is delicately flavored. Add soy sauce to taste.

Kyoto Kujo negi

That’s not cooking. Well, I eat every day, but I don’t always cook. Some meals are as simple as a bowl of rice.

And a few beans.

With Kyoto Kujo negi (Kyoto 9th avenue leeks), as they were cultivated there… a long while ago. It’s leeks with tender greens, not too harsh nor strong and that you can eat raw.

Cut, salted, rinsed.

Simple (via Gourmande in Osaka)

Last year…

Too hot today. Naga imo. Grated… into a fresh milky wave. + juice of sudachi lemon + natural sea salt. + flakes of fire +genmai brown rice + sesame + flax seeds + sudachi lemon +… Steamed. + Chinese black vinegar + soy sauce + sudachi lemon peel + Sichuan pepper (2 servings of rice) Cal 525.2 F9.4g C100.8g P28.0g … Read More