Gohan 御飯
Yes, a post about rice. Imagining my younger self reading this I think I’d question the necessity of dedicating a whole post to it, after all it is just rice, right? (I guess it just goes to show how our ideas and thoughts change the more we experience through life.)
First thing to recognise is the Japanese word Gohan ご飯 holds two primary meanings, rice(cooked) and a meal (it is also included in the words for breakfast, lunch and dinner). I’m mentioning this as I just wanted to highlight how intrinsic it is to Japanese culture (for anyone not already aware, I certainly wasn’t before I met my wife and begun my exploration into the food!) This humble ingredient is given as much respect as any, so much so that when eating a bowl here there is etiquette to follow as to not offend. Two quick points;
1. Always hold your rice bowl when eating from it, leaving it on the table to eat from is not the done thing.
2. It’s polite to finish every grain of rice in the bowl leaving nothing behind, shows you appreciate the meal and are not being wasteful. In the not too distant past it was believed that each grain of rice held a God’s spirit so you wouldn’t want to be leaving it behind.
This may be of little interest to most but I just wanted to give people the chance to see it in context from my perspective. Basically by giving you a bit of background it may make it a bit more relatable!
Japanese rice
I know the culture in the UK is changing but growing up going to the supermarket you had two main choices long grain(generally associated with curry/ South American cuisine) and medium grain ( generally associated with paella/risotto). Even before we moved back to Japan we were left frustrated on many a shopping trip not being able to find the appropriate rice required for our dinner! Your best bet is looking for sushi rice, this will be the closest thing to what your looking for. In Japan, there are 2 basic forms, both short grain, uruchimai 粳米 (used in sushi, onigiri and general everyday rice) and mochigome 餅米(more glutinous - used in mochi and many other things like Sekihan* I’m yet to try!) There are, of course, many speciality and artisan types of rice(as seen in the picture below) you can cook with over here but I wanted to focus on the simpler things to start with and on ingredients that are not to difficult to get hold of. After all, the purpose of this blog is to share the kind of meals I now enjoy on a daily basis in the hope others may try them out too, whilst updating friends and family back home on our progress.
*Sekihan is rice cooked with red beans. A slightly bizarre anecdote; usually a meal cooked by mother’s to celebrate their daughters becoming women if you catch my drift. Imagine that family dinner table conversation!
Rice cooker
Once again, rewind my life 7 years and I had no desire to own a rice cooker but I also had little to no knowledge of Japanese food. Now I almost can’t imagine life without one. To try and find a comparison, a Japanese family uses a rice cooker like a western family uses an oven. It’s pretty much a tool of everyday life. In contrast and much to my annoyance we don’t actually have an oven and nor do most Japanese households. When trying to make breads and anything pastry related this becomes a nuisance as the only alternate is a microwave oven or mini grill, makes for a less than enjoyable cooking experience half the time!
Now I’m fully aware that there is an art to cooking rice but we are not going to go down that avenue just yet. A lot of the recipes we will be posting to begin with will ask for a rice accompaniment and the most functional way of cooking it in your own home is to invest in a rice cooker. I’m aware they aren’t cheap but if you tend to eat rice regularly they certainly are an investment worth considering for a few reasons, they cut down on the cooking process, are consistent and are incredibly easy to use!
Washing Rice
This is as important as the cooking process itself in Japan. Basically we are washing the excess starch off and this will help with the light and fluffy texture and fragrance when cooked. The Japanese verb used to describe the process is “togu” which directly translates as sharpen. (Its the same word for used when honing the edge of a blade.)
There are four simple steps.
1) With the intended cooking pot place the rice inside and cover it completely with water.
2) Use one cupped hand to mix it round gently as to not break up the grains. You ideally want this to be one continuous brisk motion but not being too heavy handed. Repeat motion three times.
3) Tip the cooking vessel and gently pour out the water. Repeat steps 1) and 2) three times. (Some people repeat this more but from what I can gather this is sufficient and the way my wife’s family like it.)
4) Before cooking leave to sit for a minimum of 30 minutes in the cooking water.
Cooking Rice without a rice cooker
I thought I best add a simple method on the hob as I know a lot of people will need more than my word to be persuaded by the rice cooker. When Sae first came to live in the UK before we had our own she followed the same method that I’d been taught by my mum growing up.
After washing the rice, ideally using a heavy based pan with accompanying lid, add water to completely cover the rice and then enough extra that you can submerge half of the top joint of your thumb.
Place on the stove medium to high heat and wait for it start boiling. Lid on. You should be able to hear when it begins to boil, if not it’s ok to intermittently check at this point.
Once boiling and pockets begin to form turn down to a minimum heat and make sure to keep the lid on. Leave to steam for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off completely and leave to sit for a further 10 minutes.
You can be more exact with the ratio of water to rice here and use a measure but this method has always worked sufficiently well for us.
One bonus to cooking rice by this method is if you’ve timed it just right you get the nice crispy base layer in the pan which is pretty delicious, something you can’t enjoy using a rice cooker. On the other hand it’s a fine line between this and it being burnt!
The next post will take us onto temakizushi (手巻き寿司).