One of my family’s favorite rice dishes, especially my hubby’s.
Whenever he goes grocery shopping and loads our fridge with a pack of MAITAKE mushroom, I take it as his quiet request for me to cook him MAITAKE GOHAN, and so I do!
The secret of its rich flavor is the dash of sesame oil, so don’t forget!
A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT JAPAN:
MAITAKE or the “hen of the woods” mushroom are said to be so good that you start dancing from joy when you eat them, hence given the name “MAI”= dance, “TAKE”= mushroom.
“Shun” (good season) of MAI TAKE in JAPAN: October ～ November.
INGREDIENTS（serves 5 to 6）:
3 GO* or 480g Rice
1 pack MAITAKE mushroom
1 tspn KOMBU DASHI powder
3 1/2 tbs Soy sauce
2 tbs SAKE (cooking liquor)
1 tbs MIRIN (sweet wine)
1 tbsp Sesame oil
*GO= Japanese rice measuring cup/ 1 GO = about 180 ml
DIRECTIONS:
- Rinse rice and drain through a sieve. Transfer to a heavy, tight-lidded pot or a rice cooker.
- Make a mixture of 600ml (500ml for firmer rice) with powdered KONBU broth, soy sauce, SAKE, MIRIN, and water.
- Pour mixture over rice and let it sit for about 30 minutes for the rice to soak in the broth.
- Trim off the hard stems of the MAITAKE mushrooms, split them into bite size portions and place them on the uncooked rice.
- Drizzle 2 to 3 circles of sesame oil over rice and cover the pot or start the cooker.
- Place pot over high heat and bring to boil. Once the pot is boiling and steaming, reduce heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit for about 10 minutes for the rice to settle.
- Stir and mix gently (untangle the rice!) with a rice paddle or wooden spoon and serve.
NOTES;
“Mirin” substitute: 1 tbsp MIRIN = 1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp sugar
