Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Mixed Rice)

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ cups uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice (or 2 rice cooker cups)
• 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (0.5 oz, 15 g)
• ½ cup water (for soaking the shiitake and making shiitake dashi)
• ⅓ package konnyaku (konjac) (3 oz, 85 g)
• 1 piece aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch) (¾ oz, 20 g)
• 1 oz gobo (burdock root) (4 inches, 10 cm)
• 2 oz carrot (3 inches, 7.5 cm)
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh (4.8 oz, 135 g)
• 1½ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use the shiitake dashi you made from soaking the mushrooms plus standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
• 1½ Tbsp mirin
• 1½ Tbsp soy sauce

For the Garnish

• mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (or substitute green onion/scallion)

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Prepare all the ingredients. For the Japanese short-grain rice, 1½ US cups or 2 rice cooker cups (360 ml, 300 g) of uncooked rice yields roughly 4 servings (3½ US cups, 660 g) of cooked rice.

To Prepare the Ingredients

1. Wash 1½ cups uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice in a large bowl. Rice absorbs water very quickly when you start washing, so don‘t let the rice absorb the opaque water. Gently wash the rice in a circular motion, add water, and discard it. Repeat this process about 3–4 times.
2. Let the rice soak in water for 20–30 minutes. Then, transfer the rice into a sieve and drain completely for at least 15 minutes. Tip: It’s important to soak the short-grain rice. Why not soaking in the seasoning? Soy sauce and other seasonings actually prevent the rice from absorbing water.
3. Soak 3 dried shiitake mushrooms in ½ cup water for 15 minutes. I place a smaller bowl on top to keep the mushrooms submerged in the water at all times.
4. In a small saucepan, bring 2 inches (5 cm) of water to a boil. Place ⅓ package konnyaku (konjac) in the boiling water and cook for 1 minute to get rid of any odor. Transfer the konnyaku to a plate to cool. Add 1 piece aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch) to the same pot of boiling water and cook for 1 minute. This removes the excess oil from the aburaage. Transfer the aburaage to a plate to cool. Discard the water.
5. Scrape the skin of 1 oz gobo (burdock root) with the back of your knife. The earthy flavor and aroma of the gobo is right underneath the skin; therefore, you only need to scrape off the outer skin. Do not use a peeler. Then, make a cross incision at the thick end of the gobo about 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep. This helps make shaving the gobo easier.
6. Shave the gobo from that end while constantly rotating the root with the other hand, as if you were sharpening a pencil with a knife. Soak the shaved gobo in a bowl of water to prevent discoloration.
7. Cut 2 oz carrot in half lengthwise and cut diagonally into thin slices. Then, cut the slices into julienned or smaller pieces.
8. Cut the aburaage and konnyaku into thin small strips.
9. Cut 1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh into ¾-inch (2-cm) slanted pieces. Hold your knife at 45-degree angle and slice the chicken. This sogigiri cutting technique gives the chicken more surface area so it will cook faster and soak up flavors quickly.
10. Squeeze the liquid from the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms and save the soaking liquid (this is called Shiitake Dashi). Remove the stems and cut the caps into thin slices.
11. Strain the shiitake dashi into a bowl through a fine-mesh strainer to get rid of any dirty particles. In a measuring cup, add all the shiitake dashi plus enough additional dashi to make 1½ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock).