Rice Cooker

Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Mixed Rice)

  • Main Dish
  • Japanese
  • Mixed

There are no absolute set rules when it comes to making takikomi gohan.

Feel free to include your favorite veggies and meat in this mixed Japanese rice recipe. And when you use your rice cooker, you’ll see just how easy it is to prepare healthy Japanese food in your own home!

  • Servings 4
  • Preparation
  • Cooking

Ingredients

Ingredients below are for a 5.5-cup cooker. Double the ingredients for a 10-cup cooker.

  • 3 cups Rice (Using exclusive measuring cup included with rice cooker)
  • 1 1/4 inches Kombu (dried kelp)
  • 2 oz Chicken thigh
  • 1/2 Abura-age (deep fried tofu skin)
  • 1/2 (1 1/2 oz)  Carrot
  • 3 inches (1 1/5 oz) Gobo (burdock root)
  • 1/8 block Konnyaku
  • 2 Dried shiitake
  • 8 Snow peas
  • Sake, soy sauce, salt and vinegar for flavor

Seasoning mixture

  • 2 tbsp Soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp Sake (rice wine)
  • 1/2 tbsp Mirin
  • 1/2 tsp Salt

Directions

  • Cut the chicken into 1/2 inches cubes, and season it with sake and soy sauce.
  • Rinse off excess oil from the abura-age and cut lengthwise into halves, and then into thin strips.
  • Peel the carrot skin and cut it into 1-1/4 inches (3 cm)-long thin strips.
  • Peel the gobo (burdock root) skin and shred it into thin strips. Soak in the vinegar water.
  • Boil the konnyaku for 4 to 5 minutes. Then wash it with water and cut it in the same size as the carrots.
  • Soak the dried shiitake in water to rehydrate and soften. Cut off the stems and then slice the caps into small pieces.
  • Remove the strings from the snow peas and boil them in salted water. Place the peas in cold water so they retain their color and then cut into thin pieces.
  • Place the washed rice in the inner pot and add the mixed seasonings. Add water up to level 3 of the scale for “Ultra” (level 6 for the 10-cup cooker). Mix the rice and water well. Add kombu (dried kelp) and other ingredients except for the snow peas. Select the “Mixed” menu, and press the [Start/Rinse-free] key.
  • When cooking is complete, remove the kombu and add the snow peas. Mix all ingredients well in the inner pot and place
  • the dish on the serving plate.

WHAT IS TAKIKOMI GOHAN?

Takikomi gohan (炊き込みご飯) is a Japanese rice recipe that mixes vegetables and meat (sometimes even seafood) with short-grain Japanese rice. Seasonings like soy sauce, sake and mirin provide savory tones and an underlying dry sweetness to the dish. However, some recipes will call for the use of dashi as the main seasoning as well.

All of the elements are steamed together so the rice becomes intensely flavored by the ingredients it has been cooked with.

Now, depending on where you’re eating in Japan, takikomi gohan may also be referred to as gomoko gohan (五目御飯) which loosely translates into five ingredients rice.

And that name alone illustrates how this is one of those Japanese recipes where the word recipe is pretty loosely interpreted.  

You see, when making this seasoned rice recipe, it’s common to use vegetables that are in season. There are no real hard and fast rules on what you can and can’t use.

That said, it’s quite common to use Japanese mushrooms like shiitake or enoki – along with carrots and burdock root.

Proteins like chicken thigh and aburaage (deep fried tofu pockets) are great additions to your own takikomi gohan creations.

Our suggestions for our favorite elements are under the ingredients tab. But go wild with your own mixtures!

HOW TO MAKE TAKIKOMI GOHAN IN A RICE COOKER

Obviously, a rice cooker is a great choice when cooking rice, right!?

But, did you know that your Tiger rice cooker has pre-programmed cooking presets for preparing all kinds of different types of food?

Yep – from oyakodon to vegetarian chili to Szechuan pork, we’ve got you covered with optimized cooking temperatures and times that allow you to press the Start button and walk away. And you can be secure in the knowledge that all elements of your dinner will be perfect when the timer sounds off.

Magic? Not really…

Science? Yes!

Simply load the ingredients for your takikomi gohan into the inner pot of your Tiger rice cooker. When you use the Mixed setting your Japanese rice will steam right along with everything else.

Dinner is gonna taste amazing!

Itadakimasu!  

Products used in this recipe

JKD-T

Induction Heating Rice Cooker JKT-D10U/18U

Made in Japan The TIGER JKT-D multi-functional induction heating (IH) electric rice cooker allows yo […]

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