ochazuke

[melonpan]

nagitanien's dashi chazuke 8 pack:

x2 nori

x2 sake

x2 ume

x2 tencha

ume pack (not yet mixed up) sprinkled in a bowl, topped with some sobagi chunks (cucumber kimchi)

[torakris]

dashi chazuke?

I don't think I have ever seen that before, how does it taste compared to a regular ochazuke?

[helenjp]

What? Barely got one foot out of the airplane, and craving ochazuke already?!

Dashi chazuke used to be a favorite at the expensive restaurants my first father in law used to take us too occasionally, but I really prefer the bite of the normal tea ochazuke in most cases.

Hope you are enjoying a few "home-style" foods, and also hope it wasn't you who took the very hot weather away with you - it's cooled down a bit today in Japan.

[hillvalley]

Can you use any type of green tea or is there ochazuke tea?

[torakris]

Can you use any type of green tea or is there ochazuke tea?

hhmmm...

I am assuming any type of green tea will do, except for thr frothy tea ceremony tea , I have never actually heard of a specific tea for use in ochazuke.

[melonpan]

we use mugicha at home. we also use hot corn tea.

a lot of korean restaurants, particularly the more recent suntubu places, pour hot water or mugicha (korean places dont usually have green tea) over okoge from a stone pot. no crunchy wheat puffs, no nori, no sake flakes or ume. but there is the kimchi!

also, re: dashi ochazuke... it doesnt really taste significantly different from regular chazuke. i guess the broth is more dashi-like than tea but i dont think i notice it too much.

[Jordanzmd]

Hi. First post!

Does anyone know of a brand of ochazuke nori packet that might be available in the states or for mail order with all of the seasonings/tea bot without the rice crackers?? I've been using the old standard for years and am looking for one that approximates what I was often served in Japan (no little "ball" rice crackers)

Thanks!

[melonpan]

<a href="http://www.hamaotome.co.jp/index.htm">hamaotome</a> has an ochazuke for sale called tencha.

<center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041006tencha.jpg"> <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041006tencha2.jpg"></center>

i got it and tried it out today. heres a snapshot before i mixed it up. you can see the usual soup granules at the bottom mixed with the nori squares. sometimes nagitani ens chazuke granules are green, since its supposed to be tea, but this one looked just like hondashi granules. the tempura disc on top was broken during shipping and handling (probably my grapefruit crushed it on the way home).

<center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041006tencha3.jpg"></center>

the "tempura" (there was some shrimp and green onions inside the tempura) was crispy, but it was quite greasy. i soaked the tempura in good with the rice and tea mix, but it still tasted really oily. brought out some umeboshi to cut the grease. that helped.

the price for this tencha ochazuke is expensive compared to others. usd$3.49 for 2 servings of tencha compared to $3.99 for 8 servings of nagitani en's ochazuke variety pack.

i would not recommend this product. too greasy and too expensive. it was a good idea though. i think a few pieces of noriten might be a cheaper and somewhat less greasy option.

[helenjp]

a few pieces of noriten

Sounds verrrry promising!

[melonpan]

<center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041028ochazuke.jpg"></center>

at the korean market i noticed for the first time boxes of instant ochazuke for sale. this means that flavoured watery rice is packaged and sealed in plastic bowls that you stick in the microwave.

my husband was as surprised as i was to see this. he said that koreans dont know what ochazuke is. i told him that he hasnt lived there in the last 10 years so hes out of touch. maybe these days they all know...

[melonpan]

i should add that product in the photo is labeled as "ochazuke juk". most of you might know that juk (or "jook") is watery rice. a general recipe for this can be 1 part rice to 6-8 parts water...

[AmyDaniel]

What a great thread! I first had ochazuke a few years ago - I'm so glad that I know now what to look for in order to make it! I thought one would have to buy the spices and other stuff that's in it separately. I'm making a trip to Sunrise Mart next week!!

Amy

[torakris]

I just ran across this site of a man who is trying to eat as many different ochazukes as he can, it is all documented here (including pictures of all the bowls):

http://wn.31rsm.ne.jp/~nishi72/Ochaduke/index2.html

he is up to 210 bowls!

[torakris]

In the newspaper the other day I saw an ad for this new product from Nagatanien (the big ochazuke giant).

It is called Hiyasihi Oolongcha-zuke

or cold oolong tea ochazuke

there are two flavors, kaibashira and steamed chicken, they both look good and I am curious to try this

[JasonTrue]

On the question of which tea to use:

I personally can't imagine wanting ochazuke with any tea other than a decent sencha, but that's probably because it was my first, and usually what I end up with when ordering it in Japan at some izakaya or robataya.

I can imagine matcha-genmaicha, mugicha, and maybe even corn tea, but I would avoid bancha or houjicha. Oolong might be interesting to try. I suppose the rule should be like wine: if you wouldn't drink it, why cook with it?

Maybe I'm a little too picky about tea.

[torakris]

I agree with you about bancha and houjicha, oolongcha is just interesting enough to try. I have never thought of a cold ochazuke and like the pairing of it and oolong tea.

I think a sobacha would work well too.

So what time of day do you all ike to enjoy your ochazuke?

For me it is breakfast...

[JasonTrue]

Alas, I don't use a rice cooker; I'm using a heavy pot instead, so rice isn't ready for me in the morning. I don't have a microwave either, so warming rice up is out without setting up a steamer... Since the tea isn't quite enough to bring the rice up to a steamy temperature, that means nighttime is best for me.

I think my favorite is after nibbling on a few little things and maybe 1-go of mild sake. (I'm not a heavy drinker, so the standard "after you're nearly on the floor, just before the last call for food orders at your neighborhood izakaya" occasion for Ochazuke doesn't apply to me). But on such occasions, I'd be equally happy with some yaki-onigiri.

I agree with you about bancha and houjicha, oolongcha is just interesting enough to try. I have never thought of a cold ochazuke and like the pairing of it and oolong tea.

I think a sobacha would work well too.

So what time of day do you all ike to enjoy your ochazuke?

For me it is breakfast...

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[kazuo]

The new Nagatanien cold chazuke reminds me of something the grandparents would feed to their hungry brood of grandchildren for summer lunches. Cold rice topped with green onion, shredded takuan (a form of pickled radish), dried shitake reconstituted with dashi and shoyu, and katsuo bushi, with cold green tea poured over. Healthy, nourishing and served with love.

[Kiem Hwa]

Funny that this thread just reemerged...Ive never had Ochazuke, but yesterday I discovered a bottle of the dried-shredded salmon (flakes?) MIL bought a little while ago and I was thinking its about time to try it....then today, I see this thread!

Im thinking salmon flakes + ume + wasabi + maybe nori or furikake? As for the ume, should I try the whole ume, or go for the ume paste (or my shiso-ume paste I have a tube of)?

[easternsun]

dh has recently taken to tai ochazuke with cold oolong tea. i am sticking to my (hot) sake (salmon) chazuke with cheese

[torakris]

Funny that this thread just reemerged...Ive never had Ochazuke, but yesterday I discovered a bottle of the dried-shredded salmon (flakes?) MIL bought a little while ago and I was thinking its about time to try it....then today, I see this thread! 

Im thinking salmon flakes + ume + wasabi + maybe nori or furikake?  As for the ume, should I try the whole ume, or go for the ume paste (or my shiso-ume paste I have a tube of)?

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That sounds like an ochazuke my husband would make He adds a little of everything...

I prefer mine more simple and I never mix wasabi and ume, my husband loves the combination though.

I like whole umeboshi in mine, but if you don't want to deal with the seeds paste should be fine.

[torakris]

As I was searching the internet for a picture of sake chazuke for the Daily Nihongo thread, I can across this:

ochazuke in a CAN!

I have never actually seen one of these before though...

[JasonTrue]

My most recent ochazuke:

Yakionigiri no ochazuke with umeboshi

Yakionigiri dinner blog entry

[torakris]

My most recent ochazuke:

Yakionigiri no ochazuke with umeboshi

Yakionigiri dinner blog entry

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Jason, do you do this often?

I am not a huge fan of ochazuke because I don't like how soft the rice gets if it takes more than 5 seconds to eat it. I have often thought about a yaki onigiri but I am scared if I do it once and my kids like it then I will have to do it every time... and I like ochazuke because it is quick.

Maybe I will give this a try for a lunch for myself.

[JasonTrue]

I don't make a lot of ochazuke... this was the first time in ages. I was planning on doing yakionigiri in kakejiru sprinkled with matcha as a friend of mine said was beloved in somewhere not far from Uji.

The yakionigiri kept crispy for a fair amount of time in the tea and the inner rice didn't seem to get outrageously soft, but I had to prepare the onigiri on a previous day when the rice was still warm (I don't use a rice cooker so I don't have any held warm on standby), and kept it overnight in the refrigerator. This made it easy to grill, though.

I think my hand with the miso was too light in this yakionigiri to eat standalone, but once the umeboshi was part of the equation I didn't feel that way anymore. I still have a long way to go before I can make the perfect yakionigiri.

You know, yakionigiri do take some time and they take a spot on your stove, but they seem forgiving enough not to require constant attention, so I thought it was actually helpful to have something more forgiving like that on the stove while I was busy preparing other things.