Matsutake Gohan

effort: 😫     reward: 😋

source: personal recipe (see below)

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This is a mash up of a recipe from RecipeTin Japan and another one from Just One Cookbook. I've just adjusted it a bit to have more convenient quantities for myself. It makes for a healthy, light lunch. If you want to turn it into something more substantial you can add chicken/aburaage (shredded fried tofu -- you can find it in the frozen section of Asian/Japanese grocery stores). Below are photos of matsutake and shimeji mushrooms, but you can use pretty much any mushrooms in this recipe. Also, remember you need to soak the rice beforehand so make sure you leave yourself time to do that before you start.

Recipe

Ingredients

Essential:
• 6 large matsutake mushrooms, sliced lengthwise (or an equivalent amount of shimeji or other mushrooms)
• 2 julienned carrots
• 1 (250ml) cup short grain/sushi rice
• 1 (250ml) cup dashi
• 1 Tbsp sake (sub dry sherry)
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
For a more substantial meal:
• shredded aburaage
• 150g chicken thigh fillets, cut into small pieces (plus extra 1tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sake for marinating)

Method

1. Wash the rice multiple times until the water runs clear.
2. Soak the rice in plain water for 30 minutes to an hour (it needs less soaking in summer, more in winter).
3. If you're using chicken, for the last 15 minutes of the rice soaking time, marinade the chicken in a bag with 1tsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of sake
4. If you're using aburaage, pour hot water over it to remove excess oil, then squeeze the water out and cut it into little strips with a pair of kitchen scissors.
5. Drain the soaked rice well using a sieve, and shaking to get rid of any excess water.
6. Place rice in a medium-sized, heavy based pot, then add the dashi and 1 Tbsp of sake and 1 Tbsp of soy sauce
7. Shake the pot gently to make the surface of the rice is even and flat.
8. Place chicken, then mushrooms and carrots, and then aburaage (if you are using) on top of the rice.
9. Cook the rice and when the water starts bubbling, put the lid over the rice, reduce the heat to low and cook for 12-15 minutes until there is no water at the bottom of the pot (check by listening whether you can hear it bubbling). Do NOT open the lid while cooking.
10. Take the pot off the heat and leave for another ten minutes with the lid on. Then take the lid off and fluff up the rice with a fork or rice spatula (if you have one), being careful not to damage the mushrooms.
11. Serve!