Takikomi-gohan

[torakris]

I really think fall is the best season for takikomi-gohan, so amny of the fall vegetables are a perfect match to be slowly cooked with the rice. I am determined to make my family love this stuff as much as I do!

What are some of your takikomi favorites?

[smallworld]

Kuri-gohan, of course! But that only gets cooked at home a few times a season because of the hassle. So the typical takikomi with lots of veggies, aburage and konyaku are great too.

A few questions about takikomi-gohan:

Can I use mochi-gome? Some kuri-gohan recipes call for about a 1:4 - 1:3 mix of mochigome and regular rice, but I've never seen any other takikomi recipe that called for mochi-gome.

I went ahead and made a typical takikomi and substituted a quarter of the rice with mochi-gome, and ended up with mush. What went wrong? Should I avoid using mochi-gome alltogether, or can I go ahead if certain adjustments are made?

And, do all pre-peeled chesnuts suck? I tried them last year to save time but they had absolutely no flavour. Was this just a bad brand or all they all like that?

[torakris]

Kuri-gohan, of course! But that only gets cooked at home a few times a season because of the hassle. So the typical takikomi with lots of veggies, aburage and konyaku are great too.

A few questions about takikomi-gohan:

Can I use mochi-gome? Some kuri-gohan recipes call for about a 1:4 - 1:3 mix of mochigome and regular rice, but I've never seen any other takikomi recipe that called for mochi-gome.

I went ahead and made a typical takikomi and substituted a quarter of the rice with mochi-gome, and ended up with mush. What went wrong? Should I avoid using mochi-gome alltogether, or can I go ahead if certain adjustments are made?

And, do all pre-peeled chesnuts suck? I tried them last year to save time but they had absolutely no flavour. Was this just a bad brand or all they all like that?

I have only bought the pre-peeled chestnuts once and they were so bad I have never bought them again. They aren't even close to the real thing. I know what you mean about it being time consuming, kuri gohan is one of my favorites but I probably make it only once a year. For the past couple weeks I keep walking past the bags of kuri at the supermarket thinking "next week, next week......"

Most takikomi recipes don't call for mochi-gome but I have tossed it in as well, usually 1/4 of the amount, but have never had a problem with mush.....

[helenjp]

I like the "less is more" concept for takikomigohan -- otherwise they all tend to taste the same.

Annual favorite -- maybe beef and young gobo.

Kuri-gohan is great, but a hassle to make, as noted.

Chicken rice made tonight...3 cups rice with 1 diced chicken breast cooked in butter with 1/4 to 1/2 onion, whatever fungi is on hand, 1 green pepper, and 1 roughly chopped tomato and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Another one I keep forgetting about...satsuma-imo gohan with azuki beanas. Or conversely, plain rice (with a tab or so of mochi rice) sekihan with the addition of satsuma-imo.

Regards

[ankomochi]

Kuri Gohan and Satsumaimo Gohan is def. favorite takikomi gohan during fall. I am not so big on mushrooms including Matsutake, unfortunately. So, I have never understood Matsutake gohan craze.

For all season takikomi gohan, I like to make canned tunna gohan -- mix canned tuna, ginger, carrots, soy sauce, and sake. It's great for Obento!

[FoodZealot]

I'm sorry, would someone explain the process of making kuri gohan? Is it a hassle because of peeling the chestnuts first? Are the chesnuts roasted or somehow cooked first, or put in raw with the rice? I've only recently been exposed to the fire-roasted chestnuts, and I find the smell a bit unappetizing. The actual chestnuts are good. Thank you.

Bakerkel (also on eGullet) let me taste some of her matsutake gohan yesterday. Very good! I also like sekihan with gomashio. Our family didn't really make takikomi gohan as such - similar ingredients, but assembled afterward, rather than being cooked together.

~Tad

[torakris]

The chestnuts need to be peeled which can be quite time consuming, it is easier to cook them first either by roasting or boiling, the peeling becomes a lot easier. I have never seen a recipe that calls for them to be tossed into the rice raw. Usually there is some kind of cooking either before or after peeling.

I prefer to roast mine in the shells, it adds a lot more flavor then the boiled ones.

[Phish]

Sorry, to go back about the kuri- gohan... but i was wondering if i could make them with ready- to- eat, peeled and roasted chestnut?

~Do i just dump them into the rice cooker and let it cook with the rice or do i mix it in afterwards?

~Am i suppose to use different kind of rice or is the normal rice ok?

~Do i have to add any special flavouring to the rice?

Sorry for the questions... got a sudden craving for chestnut rice (even if i've never had it before...)

[torakris]

Sorry, to go back about the kuri- gohan... but i was wondering if i could make them with ready- to- eat, peeled and roasted chestnut?

~Do i just dump them into the rice cooker and let it cook with the rice or do i mix it in afterwards?

~Am i suppose to use different kind of rice or is the normal rice ok?

~Do i have to add any special flavouring to the rice?

Sorry for the questions...  got a sudden craving for chestnut rice (even if i've never had it before...)

←

I always use the ready-to-eat kind!

Actually I use a prepared pack that includes the prepared kuri as well as a "soup" for cooking.

You can use just regular Japanese short grain rice, but I prefer it with a little bit of mochi-gome (glutinous rice) added. I ususally use 2 1/2 cups (the Japanese 180ml rice cup) of regular rice and 1/2 cup (again the same rice cup measure) of mochi-gome.

To flavor the rice use dashi (a simple konbu-dashi works well here) instead of water, add some sake, about 2 tablespoons and about a teaspoon of salt, I also like to add just a splash of soy sauce.

Cook in a rice cooker (or on the stove) adding teh prepared chestnuts with the rice.

serve with goma-shio.

[Hiroyuki]

My son likes all kinds of mushrooms. Yesterday, hiratake (oyster) mushrooms were sold for 298 yen per pack, so I bought one and made hiratake takikomi gohan for tonight's supper.

[Phish]

Looks yummy!! I love mushrooms too!

Would you mind sharing your recipe Hiroyuki??

[Hiroyuki]

Looks yummy!! I love mushrooms too!

Would you mind sharing your recipe Hiroyuki??

←

3 gou (540 cc) regular rice (1 gou = 180 cc)

1 pack hiratake mushrooms (buna shimeji or maitake mushrooms)

1/2 carrot

1 aburaage

45 cc soy sauce

30 cc sake

5 cc mirin

1. Wash rice and leave it in a sieve for at least half an hour.

2. Rinse hiratake mushrooms and drain.

3. Finely cut carrot.

4. Cut aburaage horizontally into two parts and then cut them vertically into pieces of about 5 mm (1/5 inch) in width.

5. Put rice in a rice cooker and add soy sauce, sake, and mirin.

6. Add hiratake, carrot, and aburaage.

7. Add water up to the 3-gou level and stir the ingredients.

8. Turn on the cooker.

My wife often skips the "leave it in a sieve..." part of step 1, but the difference is not discernable.

[Phish]

Thanks a lot Hiroyuki!! Will try it tomorrow night when i have time.

Btw Kris, the kuri gohan came out really nicely even if i didn't have sweet rice on hand, i did however substitute it with short grain brown rice for a nuttier flavour. I had some leftover for lunch today and it tasted even better!

Thanks for the recipe once again!

[torakris]

takikomi gohan made with the leftovers in the refrigerator, a little chicken, konnyaku, carrots, shiitake (dried) and sprinkled with negi (Japanese scallions)

[torakris]

Why don't you join us here in the Japan forum on 12/12 as we all make takikomi gohan!!

[melonpan]

Why don't you join us here in the Japan forum on 12/12 as we all make takikomi gohan!!

need ideas?

i will certainly be joining again for this round. it will be exciting since ive never made this before. ive very occasionally added other grains, nuts or soybean sprouts but never chicken or mushrooms and never any seasonings like soy sauce and the like. so it will be fun.

ive bought this before and wondered how it was made. i have seen sansai mix (in bags of water) and seen that used but didnt know how...

[melonpan]

i was still a little foggy on what takikomi gohan is... unlike the last time, i actually rememberd to run search!

from the <a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=19909&">Japanese foods--gohanmono, rice dishes</a> thread, the first post says:

TAKIKOMI-GOHAN

this is rice cooked with one or more additional ingredients. Sometimes they are added raw to the raw rice and sometimes they are slightly cooked (sauteed) and added to the raw rice. Seasoning can be as simple as just dashi or just sake or as complex as dashi, sake, soy, mirin, etc. This is a quick dinner, everything cooked together in the rice cooker, and all you really need is a simple soup to go with it. Thus it is quite a popular dish at home and packets of takikomi no gu (preseasoned meat and vegetable mixtures that just need to be added to the raw rice) are available everywhere. This is a very seasonal dish with the ingredients varying depending on the season:

spring-- takenoko-gohan (Bamboo shoot rice)

summer-- mame-gohan (green pea rice)

autumn-- matsutake-gohan (matsutake mushroom rice)

winter-- kuri-gohan  (chestnut rice)

[melonpan]

3 gou (540 cc) regular rice (1 gou = 180 cc)

1 pack hiratake mushrooms (buna shimeji or maitake mushrooms)

1/2 carrot

1 aburaage

45 cc soy sauce

30 cc sake

5 cc mirin

1. Wash rice and leave it in a sieve for at least half an hour.

2. Rinse hiratake mushrooms and drain.

3. Finely cut carrot.

4. Cut aburaage horizontally into two parts and then cut them vertically into pieces of about 5 mm (1/5 inch) in width.

5. Put rice in a rice cooker and add soy sauce, sake, and mirin.

6. Add hiratake, carrot, and aburaage.

7. Add water up to the 3-gou level and stir the ingredients.

8. Turn on the cooker.

←

i basically didnt really want to wait around to make my first batch and so i made this today with a pack of bunashimeji. followed the recipe exactly. the smell coming out of the rice cooker was positively wonderful. you know how the smell of rice cooking can be so, so, so good? it was just like that, but with a new twist. i think it was the addition of the soy sauce, mostly. amazing aroma.

it was delicious. my husband loves it too. :D

[Hiroyuki]

i think it was the addition of the soy sauce, mostly.  amazing aroma.

it was delicious.  my husband loves it too.  :D

←

First of all, I must say thank you for trying my recipe.

About the aroma:

Have you ever heard of the Maillard reaction, also known as the amino-carbonyl reaction? This reaction occurs when soy sauce and mirin are heated, which gives off a good aroma.

Example of an explanation of this reaction: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/...lard%20reaction

[WhatsCookin]

3 gou (540 cc) regular rice (1 gou = 180 cc)

1 pack hiratake mushrooms (buna shimeji or maitake mushrooms)

1/2 carrot

1 aburaage

45 cc soy sauce

30 cc sake

5 cc mirin

1. Wash rice and leave it in a sieve for at least half an hour.

2. Rinse hiratake mushrooms and drain.

3. Finely cut carrot.

4. Cut aburaage horizontally into two parts and then cut them vertically into pieces of about 5 mm (1/5 inch) in width.

5. Put rice in a rice cooker and add soy sauce, sake, and mirin.

6. Add hiratake, carrot, and aburaage.

7. Add water up to the 3-gou level and stir the ingredients.

8. Turn on the cooker.

←

i basically didnt really want to wait around to make my first batch and so i made this today with a pack of bunashimeji. followed the recipe exactly. the smell coming out of the rice cooker was positively wonderful. you know how the smell of rice cooking can be so, so, so good? it was just like that, but with a new twist. i think it was the addition of the soy sauce, mostly. amazing aroma.

it was delicious. my husband loves it too. :D

←

Say, do you guys really add the ingredients and then fill the water to the 3-cup mark? I am just discovering takikomi gohan, and my only recipe (from Hensperger/Kaufman Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook) says to fill the water to the mark, then add the ingredients on top of the rice. This makes sense to me - all those carrots and mushrooms take up a lot of space.

I'm looking forward to searching the forums for more takikomi gohan recipes, and discovering my own. I was inspired to buy a rice cooker by my Sansei boyfriend, and now I cook Japanese way more than he does. He's more of a ravioli guy. :)

Take care,

- Karen

[WhatsCookin]

what do you all think of adding the chopped up inari packets (abura age?) to your takikomi gohan? I find that the little bits are hardly noticeable with all the other ingredients, so I don't feel that it's worth the trouble. So right now my recipe includes chicken marinated in tamari, carrot, konnyaku (the brown kind), and shiitake. The broth includes the shiitake soaking liquid, soy sauce from the chicken, sake, mirin, and kombu dashi for the rest of the liquid.

- Karen

Edited November 16, 2004 by torakris (log)

[torakris]

I love aburage in my takikomi gohan, but I don't chop it up that small, I actually leave it pretty big.

As to cooking the rice, I put the rice in the rice cooker then add the dashi/seasonings. I then add water to fill it up to the mark I want it at, then the final thing is adding the ingredients.

[melonpan]

Say, do you guys really add the ingredients and then fill the water to the 3-cup mark? I am just discovering takikomi gohan, and my only recipe (from Hensperger/Kaufman Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook) says to fill the water to the mark, then add the ingredients on top of the rice. This makes sense to me - all those carrots and mushrooms take up a lot of space.

i added the water after and while i was doing it wondered about it for the same reason you bring up, but you know, carrots and mushrooms have a lot of water in them anyway. the rice turned out fine, not overly firm or anything.

[Hiroyuki]

The original recipe is such that the rice, seasonings, water, and ingredients are put in in that order, but I intentionally modified the order of water and ingredients simply because I can't completely drain the mushrooms by the time I put them in. Besides, all the ingredients of this recipe are so light that they virtually float on water, and so it doesn't make any major difference if you put the ingredients first. After all, I found the resulting takikomi gohan was fairly good, so I posted my version of the recipe.

Also, I intentionally added that you can omit the latter part of step 1 because I thought you might find that information useful if you had to make takikomi gohan in a hurry for some reason or other.

[Hiroyuki]

I didn't put the rice in a sieve after washing it, but the resulting gohan was just as good.