Takikomi-gohan

[Sencha]

I made kuri okowa (glutinous rice cooked with chestnuts) for yesterday's dinner.

The ingredients are 4 gou (1 gou = 180 ml) glutinous rice, 18 large chestnuts, 2 tablespoons sake, and 1 teaspoon salt.

So simple, yet so delicious!

←

It's already that time of the year!? I was really craving some kuri gohan (kuri okowa would be good too, but I'm currently out of mochigome) the other day and lamented the fact that it will probably be a couple more weeks until some chestnuts are available to me. Summer doesn't seem to want to die just yet here.

[torakris]

I made a carrot and hijiki takikomi the other day, the same one pictured two photos above. This is slowly becoming a staple as it is very easy, good for any season and all three kids love it!

My MIL came over when I was making it and we started talking about takikomi gohan. I told her that one I wanted to try making was mukago gohan. Mukago are the nuts? seeds? that grow off of yamaimo (mountain yam) leaves and look like this.

However I used the wrong word and instead of saying mukago gohan I called it mukade gohan!

for those that don't know, this is a mukade...

I think for a moment she actually thought I was serious...

[helenjp]

I have made mukago gohan, and it was pretty underwhelming, though it looks cute and is somehow such a romantic dish.

I've become sneaky in my old age, and sometimes make takikomigohan with all the usual things, but then brown some chicken thighs, wipe off extra fat, and lay them on top of the rice and sprinkle with sake to cook, so that I can serve them separately.

Looking at Kiem Hwa's photo upthread reminded me of a very simple but pleasant dish - okowa (or mochigome/plain rice mix cooked in the rice cooker) with green peas. I like it with a few shreds of ginger stirred in just before serving.

[jeniac42]

Today my new rice cooker arrived, and I plan on using it tonight. I was thinking of making kuri-gohan with it - I have all the ingredients - but then I thought maybe I should do a test run with plain rice first. I have never had a nice rice cooker before (this is a Zojirushi neuro fuzzy 5.5c version) so I'm not used to them. Maybe I'll do a test run with plain rice tonight and set up the kuri-gohan on a timer for tomorrow's dinner.

[jeniac42]

Well, I'm really glad I didn't go to all the effort to make the kuri-gohan tonight. I made takikomi-gohan with chicken and mushrooms, and, uh... it did NOT turn out at all. I think I maybe put too much of the chicken and mushrooms; also, I put those in before adding the water and I think that was a bad idea. The rice is all hard in the middle and starchy and just... eugh.

I am leaving it on the keep warm setting to see if the steam will somehow permeate into the rice and make it OK to eat, because I hate to pitch it, but it's more or less inedible.

I will try again soon.

[torakris]

Well, I'm really glad I didn't go to all the effort to make the kuri-gohan tonight.  I made takikomi-gohan with chicken and mushrooms, and, uh... it did NOT turn out at all.  I think I maybe put too much of the chicken and mushrooms; also, I put those in before adding the water and I think that was a bad idea.  The rice is all hard in the middle and starchy and just... eugh.

I am leaving it on the keep warm setting to see if the steam will somehow permeate into the rice and make it OK to eat, because I hate to pitch it, but it's more or less inedible.

I will try again soon.

←

I am sorry to hear this...

but just remember that this is the kind of mistake that you will never repeat.

I always add the seasonings (liquid), then water to the appropriate line and then the vegetables/meats.

[jeniac42]

Tonight I tried my hand at kuri-gohan and I am pleased to report that it came out really well! I put together the recipe from posts here and ran it by my Japanese teacher, who agreed. I only used 2c of rice, about 1.5 tablespoons of sake, 3/4t of salt, and water, plus 10 chestnuts cut into pieces. Man, roasting the chestnuts was really difficult! I had never done it before and I didn't cut through the shells far enough so it took me a very long time to peel them completely.

Here it is in the rice cooker ready to be cooked.

And here is the finished version, with my weird Thanksgiving korokke and sweet potatoes.

[Hiroyuki]

Man, roasting the chestnuts was really difficult!

←

Looks yummy. But, roasting? Did you roast the chestnuts?

[jeniac42]

Man, roasting the chestnuts was really difficult!

←

Looks yummy. But, roasting? Did you roast the chestnuts?

←

I did roast them a little bit so I would be able to peel them... was that wrong?

[Hiroyuki]

Man, roasting the chestnuts was really difficult!

←

Looks yummy. But, roasting? Did you roast the chestnuts?

←

I did roast them a little bit so I would be able to peel them... was that wrong?

←

The common practice in Japan is to soften the shells either by soaking the chestnuts in hot water for a few hours or by boiling them in water for a few minutes.

When making this kuri okowa, I boiled the chestnuts in water for about three minutes and let them cool for a few hours before peeling them with my 'kurikuribouzu'.

[torakris]

I have done the roasted version as well too, I like the extra nuttiness it gives.

[helenjp]

So are we having Takikomi Gohan day again this Dec. 12??

I read in Japanese somewhere that maitake gohan is best made WITHOUT shoyu, because the shoyu disguises the maitake aroma. I tried it with just kombu-dashi, a dash of sake, and crumbled up maitake, and a little salt, and it was good! Serve with mitsuba if, unlike me, you remember to get them out of the fridge.

[torakris]

So are we having Takikomi Gohan day again this Dec. 12??

I read in Japanese somewhere that maitake gohan is best made WITHOUT shoyu, because the shoyu disguises the maitake aroma. I tried it with just kombu-dashi, a dash of sake, and crumbled up maitake, and a little salt, and it was good! Serve with mitsuba if, unlike me, you remember to get them out of the fridge.

←

Sounds good to me!!

Anyone else?

That is interesting about the soy sauce and maitake, what if you were making a kinoko (mushroom) takikomi where maitake was just one ingredient, would this still apply?

Kinoko takikomi is sounding quite good right now!

[jeniac42]

I would like to participate on December 12! My Japanese oral final will be either that day or the next so I can just think about how I'd describe the food in Japanese and I'll consider it "studying"...

[Hiroyuki]

So are we having Takikomi Gohan day again this Dec. 12??

I read in Japanese somewhere that maitake gohan is best made WITHOUT shoyu, because the shoyu disguises the maitake aroma. I tried it with just kombu-dashi, a dash of sake, and crumbled up maitake, and a little salt, and it was good! Serve with mitsuba if, unlike me, you remember to get them out of the fridge.

←

Sounds good to me!!

Anyone else?

That is interesting about the soy sauce and maitake, what if you were making a kinoko (mushroom) takikomi where maitake was just one ingredient, would this still apply?

Kinoko takikomi is sounding quite good right now!

←

Sounds good to me too, but like someone has already suggested elsewhere, why not turn it into a weeklong event so more people feel inclined to participate?

[Kiem Hwa]

Im in for Takikomi Gohan day!!!

[torakris]

Sounds good to me too, but like someone has already suggested elsewhere, why not turn it into a weeklong event so more people feel inclined to participate?

←

That makes sense!

OK, Takikomi Week runs from the 12th!!

[Chufi]

This dish intrigues me.. I find myself with that odd EGullet phenomenon: craving something I have never tasted Between all the takikomi-gohan's mentioned here, I think I can figure out which flavourings to use.. but I have another problem.

I don't have a rice cooker, I cook my rice in an electric steamer-type thing that does not have the marks inside that I see in the pics of the ricecookers.

What is the ratio of liquid to rice so that I can just put them in the steamer pot together?

Thanks

[Priscilla]

When adding sake or shoyu or other liquid to the rice cooker for takikomi gohan, is this in addition to the regular amount of water?

Also, the hijiki versions ... I have dried hijiki. Would I reconstitute the seaweed first? And how much to add?

[torakris]

What is the ratio of liquid to rice so that I can just put them in the steamer pot together?

Thanks

←

Since I never make rice without a rice cooker, I actually have no idea...

So, I looked in Japanese Cooking: A simple Art (Shizuo Tsuji) and for his takikomi recipes he has 3 1/3 cups of rice to 4 cups of water/dashi.

Some variations with a lot of additional ingredients will need more liquid though.

[torakris]

When adding sake or shoyu or other liquid to the rice cooker for takikomi gohan, is this in addition to the regular amount of water?

Also, the hijiki versions ... I have dried hijiki.  Would I reconstitute the seaweed first?  And how much to add?

←

Reconstitute the hijiki first, a handful of reconstituted hijiki is a good amount.

I always add the seasonings first then add water slowly, with a cup, until it hits the proper line.

[Priscilla]

Ah, thanks Torakris. Both make sense!

[Chufi]

Made my first takikomo gohan today.. it was a big success.. I made it with a pack of assorted mushrooms I found in my market, carrot, aburage, and hijiki. Flavored with mirin and soy, dashi for the liquid. Served with spinach sauteed with garlic and sesame.

I made it in my steamer using 1 1/2 cups rice and 2 cups of liquid. Half way through the cooking I panicked that there was way too much liquid so I drained some, but I ended up putting it back in.. looks like that was the right amount of liquid..

edited to add: I'm in love with hijiki seaweed!

Edited December 17, 2005 by Chufi (log)

[Evan]

Decided to make gomoku (five ingredient) takikomi gohan for a holiday pot luck lunch at my work. Since I've never made it before, I did a little tester batch first to test out the seasonings using Hiroyuki's recipie as a guide adding only dried shiitake, hijiki, and carrots. Well, it helped out because the first attempt, I didn't add enough soy sauce and used only water and it was a tad bland to say the least. So for the actual dish I decided to make a vegitarian takikomi gohan; for ingredients, I used dried shiitake, hijiki, renkon(lotus root), aburaage, and carrots with dashi made only from konbu. I opted not to use any of those 'dashi no moto' since I wanted to stay away from the MSG. It came out very well except I forgot to mix the rice and ingredients after steaming so most of the ingredients were gone before the rice. But by the end, it was totally gone so it was a success. In previous pot lucks, I made some creme brulee which was also a hit with the crowd, and year before that I made some potato salad which did not go over very well. So now, I'm on a good streak, yay.

[jeniac42]

Ooh, I forgot about takikomi-gohan day. I might be able to participate later in the week but with Christmas coming up things are very hectic for me right now....