Recipe: Japanese Pilaf

Japanese Pilaf

Maze Gohan
Yield: 8 servings

Rice is often cooked along with other ingredients such as vegetables, chestnuts, or mushrooms to create a fat-free dish similar to pilaf. Here is a simple version utilizing vegetables available year-round. Feel free to substitute other seasonal vegetables as desired.

3 cups short-grain brown or white rice
5 cups Konbu Dashi for brown rice,
or 3-1/2 cups for white rice
2 tablespoons sake
1/4 cup soy sauce
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, cut into 1-inch matchsticks
1-1/3 cups frozen green peas

In a large pot or rice cooker, combine the rice and stock. Add the sake and soy sauce. Place the vegetables on top. Cover with a lid, and either turn on the rice cooker or bring the rice to a boil over high heat. Immediately turn the heat down, and continue to cook for 45 to 50 minutes for brown rice, or 10 to 15 minutes for white rice. Turn off the heat and allow to set for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. With a shamoji (flat, wide wooden rice spatula) or a wooden spoon, fluff the rice up and serve immediately.

Buy the Book!

Japanese Cooking
Contemporary & Traditional
Simple, Delicious, and Vegan
By Miyoko Nishimoto Schinner
Book Publishing Company, July 1999
Paperback, 176 pgs., $12.95
ISBN: 1-57067-072-2
Recipe Reprinted by permission.