Rice with Chicken and Vegetables
Takikomi Gohan - A Delicious and Easy-to-Make Japanese Rice Dish
We are blessed with a variety of seasonal produce here in Japan and although mushrooms such as shiitake, enoki and shimeji are available throughout the year, they are at their most abundant during fall. I love all the mushrooms that are available and a lot of times, I like to mix them up. However today, I decided to focus on one particular mushroom, namely the shimeji mushroom which happens to be one of my favorites.
As I find myself pressed for time these days, I like to make one pot dishes to save me time. So today, I'm going to be using my automatic rice cooker to make "takikomi gohan" one of the easiest dishes to make. "Takikomi" means to steam in or cook together and "gohan" means rice so it's basically various ingredients steamed together with your rice. Takikomi gohan is a very traditional Japanese rice dish and is not only easy to make, but also nutritious and healthy.
*All photos taken by myself unless otherwise noted.
Did You Know...
Shimeji mushrooms contains beta-glucans which according to the National Cancer Institute of Japan, is a successful remedy in retarding and destroying growing tumors. It may also help with diabetes, asthma and certain allergies by enhancing the immune system.
Let's Get Started
Japanese rice or short-grain rice is best for this recipe, but if you only have long-grain, it's absolutely fine. If it's impossible to find sake or mirin where you live, please feel free to omit them from the recipe.
It won't be exactly the same, but it's still good.
Cook Time
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: approximately 60 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 small carrot sliced into sticks
- 1 small bunch of shimeji mushrooms or any mushroom of your choice
- 1 6 -inch stick of dashi konbu
- 4 cups rice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- Water to cook the rice
Instructions
- Wash the rice and put it in the rice cooker. Add water according to the directions on your rice cooker.
- Put a stick of dashi konbu into the pot of rice.
- Add salt, soy sauce, and mirin into the rice and mix well.
- Add the chicken, carrots and shimeji mushrooms on top of the rice
- Cook the rice as usual according to your rice cooker's instructions.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you like and serve piping hot.
Photos Make It Even Easier
A Good Rice Cooker is Essential for Japanese Cooking
The Rice Poll
How often do you eat rice?
A Great Alternative to My Recipe
Get Creative
Takikomi Gohan has many variations and you can even get creative by adding your own ingredients in the rice, such as this recipe which uses tuna. That's the great thing about Takikomi Gohan. You can just about use anything!
What To Do With Leftover Rice
If you have leftover rice from this dish, you can add it to soups or make fried rice with it. You can also freeze them in tupperware containers and microwave them for later.
Cooking Rice Without a Rice Cooker
If you don't have a rice cooker, don't sweat it! This very thorough video will show you how to make perfect Japanese rice in a pot. It takes a little practice cooking it this way, but onc you master it, you'll get perfect rice every time. You can make my recipe above this way and the results should be the same.
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More Japanese Cooking
If you enjoy Japanese food or want to learn how to make them, please check out some of my other recipes on Japanese cooking.
