Tuna Corn Rice

At Tokyo Station recently we grabbed some inarizushi from the basement GranSta food floor area. Inarizushi are deep-fried tofu packets that are simmered in a sweet soy broth and then stuffed with rice. Sometimes the rice is plain, white rice. But often it is seasoned with sesame seeds, minced pickled ginger, or, on this occasion, corn, tuna, and mayonnaise.

We loved this so much we've started making it at home, without the sweet tofu packets. What's not to love, especially now that corn is in season. In a bowl combine cooked rice, cooked corn, canned tuna, and mayonnaise and combine. It also goes well with nori, so feel free to wrap these up into mini hand rolls.

Corn Rice

Growing up in Minnesota my summers were filled with corn. One summer I even had a part-time job detasseling corn. Most of the times we bought our corn directly from the farmers. Big paper bags of corn picked just hours before for only a few bucks. In Tokyo I am paying anywhere from one to two dollars for one ear of corn. It kills me and I don't have the luxury of eating ear after ear after ear of hot, buttered corn. 

Recently, at Den in Jimbocho, chef Zaiyu Hasegawa served corn and scallops cooked with rice. It was so delicious I knew I had to try and recreate it at home. I didn't have scallops at home so tried making it just with corn and loved it.

Simply slice the corn off the cob. Prepare the rice as you normally would at home. Then put into the rice cooker and add the corn. I also like to add a little bit of salt. And cook as usual. No need to add any extra water because of the corn. The corn cooks as the rice is steamed. After the rice and corn is cooked, stir it up with a rice paddle to incorporate the corn into the rice.

Popular Takikomigohan Ranking

Takenoko Gohan 

The Asahi Shimbun ranks the most popular takikomigohan based on a recent survey. Takikomigohan is simple to make at home if you are in the practice of making rice. Simply add some ingredients to the pot, and possibly some seasonings like soy sauce and sake, and cook the rice as usual.

It's a lovely way to showcase seasonal ingredients like bamboo shoots in fall or mushrooms and chestnuts in autumn. It is notable that the most popular takikomigohan in this survey, gomoku gohan, is made with ingredients that are available all-year long.

While not on the top 20, some responders said that they liked to use unique seasonings like curry powder, sesame oil, or fish sauce.

Click on linked items below for recipes from this site.

1. Gomoku gohan (carrots, shiitake, deep-fried tofu, burdock root, konnyaku)
2. Kuri gohan (chestnuts)
3. Takenoko gohan (bamboo shoots)
4. Matsutake gohan (matsutake mushrooms)
5. Tori no takikomigohan (chicken, and vegetables)
6. Asari gohan (littleneck clams)
7. Kaki-meshi (oysters)
8. Tai-meshi (sea bream)
9. Guriin piisu gohan (green peas)
10. Sansai no takikomigohan (spring mountain vegetables)
11. Kinoko gohan (mushrooms)
12. Tako-meshi (octopus)
13. Hotate takikomigohan (scallops)
14. Satsumaimo gohan (sweet potatoes)
15. Azuki gohan (azuki beans)
16. Maitake gohan (maitake mushrooms)
17. Sake no takikomigohan (salmon)
18. Edamame gohan (fresh soybeans)
19. Shimeji gohan (shimeji mushrooms)
20. Shirasu gohan (boiled baby sardines)

Perhaps our favorite method in our home is grilled fish over rice, like this tachiuo-meshi.

Salmon Pilaf

Putting grilled salmon into the rice pot is one of our favorite takikomigohan recipes. Especially when we have some ikura or sujiko in the house. But I wanted a change-up on our our standard salmon takikomigohan. This recipe is great if you find small bits and pieces of salmon for sale at your fishmonger.

In this version, I grilled the salmon and added it to the rice pot as usual (see recipe above). And, after the rice was cooked, flaked the salmon, removed any bones and the skin and returned the flaked salmon to the rice pot. This time I threw in some butter, salt, and pepper and incorporated the salmon into the rice. Easy and something that we'll make again and again.

Gomoku Gohan 五目ご飯

Changing up our routine of white rice I like to make takikomigohan. Rice steamed with toppings that are mixed into the rice after it has cooked. Some of my favorite takikomigohan are made with grilled fish like salmon or tai (sea bream). The salmon takikomigohan is especially nice when topped with ikura. Most important is to grill the fish before adding it to the rice pot to rid it of its fishiness.

Julienne the fillings. Here I have used (clockwise from top left) gobo (burdock root), abura-age (deep-fried tofu), konnyaku, carrots, and rehydrated hoshi shiitake (dried shiitake).

Here is the master recipe I use for rice, from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari. Most important here is his technique for rinsing and measuring the rice to determine the amount of liquid needed.

3 cups of rice
100 ml soy sauce
50 ml mirin
1 tsp. salt
water (as needed by using Chef Nonaga's recipe)

After rinsing the rice add to your rice pot. Top with julienned fillings. Add liquid and salt. Cook rice as usual. Stir up the rice pot after cooking to incorporate the fillings.

Key point here is that the amount of liquid remains the same as if you are making white rice. Just substitute some soy sauce and mirin. I also sometimes like to add a splash of sake. Another option is to add some sugar. Just be careful as the rice pot may scorch so monitor the heat carefully.

Takikomigohan is a free for all. Many different ingredients can be used including chicken, hijiki, kiriboshi daikon (dried daikon strips), mushrooms like maitake or shimeji, kombu, and much more.

Kinoko Takikomigohan きのこ炊き込みご飯 Mushrooms and Japanese Rice

Who doesn't love a change-up? So many times in our house it is white rice for dinner. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Especially when our table is topped with a variety of dishes that call out for a simple rice that can go with any food. However, sometimes I get the urge for some variety in our rice pot. Takikomigohan is quick and can often be made with whatever leftover bits of vegetables are in the house. The rice is still washed and made the same. The only difference is that some vegetables are put in the rice pot at the end, and a bit of soy sauce, sake, and mirin are included with the water for steaming.

And the rewards are lovely. Mushrooms cooked with the rice bring a nice earthiness to the dish. The soy, sake, and mirin season the rice lightly. The following recipe from Chef Nonaga is the best I have found for cooking rice.

Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga's rice recipe.

Takikomigohan
2 cups of rice
150 - 200 grams of chopped Japanese fresh mushrooms (shiitake, enoki, shimeji, etc.)
1 Tbsp. each of soy sauce, mirin, sake
pinch of salt

Wash the rice as normal and put into rice pot. Top with mushrooms. The amount of liquid to add to the pot is as usual, just substitute in 1 Tbsp each of the soy sauce, mirin, and sake for some of the water. Add a pinch of salt to the pot and cook as usual.

Garnish with mitsuba or toasted sesame seeds (optional).

Feel free to add other ingredients like carrots, abura age (deep-fried tofu), or konnyaku. Chicken can also be added, just be sure to cut into bite-size pieces first. If adding seafood like fish (salmon), be sure to cook the fish first, ideally grilled.

Other takikomigohan recipes:
Scallops Takikomigohan
Salmon and Ikura Takikomigohan
Clean the Fridge Takikomigohan

Kuri Okowa - Chestnut Mochi Rice 栗おこわ

My favorite bento stall at depachika is Okowa Yonehachi, which is conveniently located at most department stores. Customers choose from a selection of usually five different sticky rice flavored with a variety of fillings such as chestnuts (kuri) or sansai (mountain vegetables). The bento is then rounded out with some side dishes.

I have tried making mochi rice in the rice cooker and the results are never as delicious as at Okowa Yonehachi. This recipe uses a steamer instead and the results are exactly what I was craving. Be sure to purchase mochigome or sticky rice, not sushi rice or Japanese rice. The chestnuts can be purchased in jars filled with a sweet syrup. Save the syrup to use with ice cream or to top fresh fruits.

Kuri Okowa
3 cups mochi gome (mochi rice)
12 chestnuts
1/4 cup dashi
3 Tbsp. sake
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. usukuchi (light colored) soy sauce

1. Carefully rinse the mochi gome until it runs clear then soak in water for 2 hours.
2. In a steamer, place a cheesecloth on the steamer and place the rice on top. Shape the rice into a doughnut shape so that steam can come through the middle.
3. Wrap the cheesecloth over the rice and steam for 20 minutes.
4. Put the rice in a bowl, add the dashi, sake, salt, and usukuchi shoyu mixture and stir to combine.
5. Return to the steamer using the cheesecloth and steam again for 20 minutes.
6. Incorporate the chestnuts and serve.

Satsumaimo Gohan 薩摩芋ご飯

Satsumaimo (sweet potatoes) are in season at the moment. Usually we make a sweet dish called daigaku imo from the starchy sweet potatoes. Looking to spice up our donabe of white rice with something new I cooked the sweet potato with the rice. A nice change-up when topped with some toasted sesame seeds.

Using this recipe for cooking rice (from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari), simply add some salt to the rice pot. For the sweet potatoes, wash carefully (but leave the skins on), cut into slices, about 1/2 inch, and let rest in a pot of water to rid it of its excess starch.

Add the sweet potatoes to the rice pot and cook as you would cook white rice normally. No need to add extra water. Just use the amount based on Nonaga-san's recipe in the link above.

When serving top with toasted sesame seeds.

Nanagusa Gayu 七草がゆ

January 7th each year is the day to eat Nanagusa Gayu. An okayu (rice porridge) dish with seven different herbs. Nanagusa means seven grasses. Supermarkets sell packs of the herbs so it is quite easy to make at home.

The seven herbs consist of:

1. Seri (water dropwort)
2. Nazuna
3. Gogyou
4. Hakobera
5. Hotokenoza
6. Suzuna (turnip)
7. Suzushiro (radish)

Of the seven listed above, I only use seri in my daily cooking. The other herbs are not that common, although radish and turnips are often used in cooking. Rich in vitamins, eating nanagusa gayu, has a rich history in Japan and is supposed to contribute to one's health.

Today on the daily NHK cooking program, chef Kazunari Yanagihara, demonstrated how to cook this simple recipe.

250 grams of cooked rice
4 1/2 cups of water
4-6 pieces of mochi
1/2 tsp. salt

In a pot add the water and cooked rice. Cook over medium heat. Cut the mochi into halves and add to the pot. While the mochi and rice are cooking cut up the herbs into small pieces. Save the turnip and radish for another dish.

When the mochi is soft add the salt (add more to taste). Add the herbs and stir briefly. Remove from heat and serve. As the herbs are quite delicate and cut into small pieces it does not need to cook too long.


* Chef Yanagihara suggests still making this dish if you can only get two or three of the herbs. If you are not in Japan, look for young turnips or radishes with their leaves and use the leaves.

Japanese Rice - Lessons from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga

Rice is a staple of the Japanese meal, yet how confident are you when it comes to washing, measuring, and cooking rice? Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga shares with us the proper way to rinse and cook Japanese rice. The results is rice with a gorgeous sheen and each grain cooked just right.

This information is translated from the Lohas website which has given us permission to put this in English.

Washing the rice.

In a large bowl place your rice and add a good amount of cold water (about three times the amount of water to rice). With your hands mix the rice in the water and discard the cloudy water. Repeat until the water rinses clear, usually about three or four times.

POINT: Use good water, but not too expensive. Filtered or tap water is fine.

If the rinsing water is clear, put the rice in a strainer for ten minutes to rest. This allows the water on the surface of the rice to be absorbed.

Put the rice into your rice cooker. Add water. The amount of water should be one part water to one part rice. The key point here is to measure the rice after the ten minute rest in the strainer, not the original measuring before rinsing.

(Yukari's note: When we tested this recipe at home, two cups dry rice measured to about two and a half cups after rinsing and resting for ten minutes. It made a huge difference in the rice after cooking, a big improvement. The rice was fluffy and tender. Also, it was much easier to get the rice out of our ceramic rice pot. Uusally, rice is stuck to the bottom of the pot.)

Cook your rice as you normally do, or by turning on your rice cooker.

(Yukari's note: At our home we cook our rice in a donabe or ceramic pot. I let the rice soak in the water for about an hour. Turn on the heat to high for nine or ten minutes. The key is to listen for the water boiling. Then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for twelve minutes. Then, I turn on the heat to high for one minute to try and make a nice crust on the bottom of the pot.)

You too will love this way of cooking Japanese rice, as taught to us by Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga.


You may also like this post on how to make dashi from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga.