|
|
This
is an electronic rice cooker, one of Japan's modern kitchen
miracles. Anyone serious about preparing and eating rice
should have one of these. Also great for preparing Western
dishes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Rice
is so important in Japan that the word for it, gohan,
also means "meal." Rice is more than the staple food of
Japan... it's cultural identity, mythology, and history
rolled into one. Not only is rice served at virtually every
meal but it's also the basis for many other foods, miso
and sake to name but a few. It isn't surprising that there
are hundreds of recipes dedicated to
the making of rice, here are three
of my personal favorites.
|
 |
|
Onigiri
are one of the great finger foods found in Japan, they're
meals in themselves in a way that Western snacks could never
be. Purchased from markets or concession stands, the triangular
shaped rice balls are the perfect food for travellers or
people too busy to cook. They're very easy to make and are
packed as lunches for school kids and businessmen. Many
Japanese markets sell plastic molds used to press sticky
cooked rice into onigiri. These molds really make the process
easy, giving you perfectly shaped rice balls.
INGREDIENTS
2
cups of cooked rice, still slightly warm
(see basics for preparation
method).
salt to taste
4 sheets of nori seaweed (cut into pieces about 5 x 2 inches)
a small bowl filled with salted water to keep your fingers
moist.
FILLINGS
(make
any number of the following fillings and set aside in small
bowls)
Three large pitted and minced umeboshi (pickled
plums)
1/4 cup of dried bonito flakes mixed with a 1 1/2 teaspoons
of shoyu
1/4 cup of dried bonito flakes mixed with a 1 teaspoons
of red miso
Wet
your hands with the salted water and then grab about 1/2
cup of the cooked rice. Mold the rice into a ball and flatten
somewhat (keep dipping your fingers in the salted water
to prevent the rice from sticking to you). With your thumb
make a depression in the center and place within it some
of your chosen filling. Mold the rice to cover the filling
and continue to mold the ball into a triangle shape. Wrap
the rice ball with a sheet of the nori and it's ready to
eat. Serve at room temperature.
|
|
I
like making my onigiri with cooked salmon mixed directly
into the rice. I buy an inexpensive cut of fresh salmon
and fry it in a pan with just a little vegetable oil. After
the cooked salmon has had a chance to cool, I flake it into
tiny little pieces using a fork. Then I mix the salmon into
the rice and begin molding the onigiri. Here's another version
of onigiri... make a rice ball with your favorite filling
in the center, but omit the nori seaweed wrapping altogether
and instead roll the finished rice ball in roasted sesame
seeds!
|
|
YAKI-ONIGIRI
(grilled riceball)
|
|
Try
grilling your rice balls for a different taste! Make the
onigiri the same way as above, but do not wrap in nori or
sesame seeds. Using a stove top grill (or the broiler in
your oven), toast the onigiri being careful not to burn
them. Once the rice has turned color and become dry, turn
to toast the opposite side. Use a pastry brush to apply
shoyu to one side of the onigiri, toast, then turn the onigiri
over and repeat the process until the rice balls are thoroughly
toasted. This makes a perfect meal in winter and fills the
house with the wonderful smell of
toasted rice. Delicious!
|
|
This
is a traditional, extremely simple, and satisfying way to
serve rice.
INGREDIENTS
2
1/2 cups of steamed rice
3 cups hot Japanese green tea
or dashi
3 tablespoons of flaked cooked salmon
3 tablespoons of shredded toasted nori seaweed
1 finely chopped green onion
1 teaspoon of wasabi paste
Place
the hot rice into a deep serving bowl and pour in enough
piping hot tea or dashi to almost reach the top of the rice.
Place the flaked salmon, nori, and green onion on top and
crown with the wasabi.
|
|
Mixed
rice uses whatever ingredients are fresh and available,
so other ingredients could supplement or relace what I've
listed here. Try using any firm fleshed white fish or very
thin slices of deep fried
tofu in this dish.
INGREDIENTS
2
1/2 cups uncooked rice
3 cups of dashi (see basics
for preparation method)
4 tablespoons of shoyu
3 tablespoons of mirin
1/2 small carrot (cut into very thin slivers about a half
inch long)
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms (cut into thin slices)
1/3 cake of konnyaku (cut into very fine slivers)
10 snow peas (cut into very fine slivers)
3 tablespoons sake
1 sheet of nori, lightly toasted on the stove top grill
and then crumbled
Combine
all the ingredients except the sake in a large pan, mix
well and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and reduce heat
to low, allowing the rice to cook normally for around twenty
minutes. Just before the rice is done lift the cover and
sprinkle with the sake, cover again and let set for 10 minutes.
Mix the rice well before serving into a bowl,
top with the nori flakes.
|
|
|
