Doria is a Japanese-invented gratin. The creamy béchamel sauce with prawns is broiled with cheese on top to make a golden crust. Underneath the béchamel sauce is a flavoursome butter rice. Prawn Doria (Japanese Rice Gratin) is a gorgeous looking dish and so tasty.
Doria is a rice gratin but the way it is made is a bit different to the usual Western-style rice gratin. Instead of mixing the ingredients with the sauce and broiling to form a golden crust on top, béchamel sauce is poured on the rice, then broiled to brown the top.
It is uncertain where the name of this dish came from. The name does not resemble the dish at all.
The most believable story is that the dish was invented by a French chef in Yokohama, Japan when he was requested to cook a dish for a sick customer. It was around 1930. The dish was named after the nobleman from Genoa Republic, Admiral Andrea Doria. Why the chef named the dish after the admiral is another long story.
What’s in my Prawn Doria (Japanese Rice Gratin)
There are two distinct components to this dish – butter rice and béchamel sauce with prawns.
The butter rice is made up of the following:
- Cooked rice
- Finely diced carrot – peas and/or corn kernels are good too
- Finely diced onion
- Butter
- Salt and pepper
You don’t have to have onion and carrot in the rice but having a bit of colour is a good thing since the béchamel sauce is also white. Onion gives a good flavour to the rice.
The béchamel sauce is very similar to the sauce used in my recipe, Chicken Macaroni Gratin but chopped onion and mushrooms are sautéed to make the sauce. It consists of:
- Butter
- Diced onion
- Sliced mushrooms
- Flour
- Milk – full cream or reduced fat
- Prawn broth – made from the prawn shells and heads
- Chicken stock cube
- Salt and pepper
- Prawns – sautéed before adding to the béchamel sauce
- Grated parmesan cheese – to brown the surface of the white sauce
I bought fresh prawns in shells. To maximise the prawn flavour in the béchamel sauce, I made a prawn broth from the discarded shells. I made it by simply boiling the shells in some water for 5 minutes or so and putting them through a sieve. Since the broth is used to make the béchamel sauce, I removed the blackish organ inside the head to maintain the clarity of the broth.
If you are using peeled prawns, substitute prawn broth with water. You could also replace prawn broth and chicken stock cube with chicken broth.
Instead of prawns, you can use other proteins such as chicken, mixed seafood or salmon. You can also replace the protein with sliced vegetables that go well with béchamel sauce. Zucchini, eggplant, capsicum, varieties of mushrooms or corn would be my pick.
Steps to Make Prawn Doria
You also need two separate sets of steps to cook Doria – butter rice and béchamel sauce with prawns. Regardless of the protein/vegetables you choose to go into the béchamel sauce, the steps are pretty much the same.
- Sauté onion and carrot, and make butter rice (the first 3 photos above).
- Sauté onion and mushrooms, and make béchamel sauce (the 2nd row photos above).
- Cook prawns and add them to the béchamel sauce (left 2 photos on the last row above).
- Pour the béchamel sauce over the butter rice (the last photo above).
- Broil with grated cheese on top.
You might usually make butter rice by sautéing the rice in butter, then cooking it just like you cook rice. You can make butter rice this way if you wish, but the majority of Japanese people make butter rice my way for Doria.
The method of making béchamel sauce is slightly different to the way I made the sauce in my recipe, Chicken Macaroni Gratin. The amount of flour added to the butter in Doria is much less than the béchamel sauce for Chicken Macaroni Gratin. The flour mixture is wetter so you don’t need to cook it for a long time before adding milk.
The broiling time required is only few minutes. Everything is already cooked and it is just to get the sauce bubbling around the edges and the top golden.
Doria is one of my children’s favourite dishes (well, they have many favourite Japanese dishes!). It is a Japanese-style Western food, ‘yōshoku’ (洋食) with a rich flavour.
Some yōshoku dishes such as Tonkatsu became representative Japanese dishes even if they originated from Western dishes. But when it comes to Doria, even Japanese people think it is a pure Western dish. I hope you try this.
Yumiko
Doria is a Japanese-invented gratin. Pour béchamel sauce with prawns over the butter rice, then brown the surface with cheese on top. Prawn Doria (Rice Gratin) is a gorgeous looking dish and so tasty.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 160g / 5.6oz fresh prawns peeled, deveined and tails intact if possible (note 1)
- 4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- 20g / 0.7oz butter
- ½ onion (medium) finely diced
- 70g / 2.5oz mushrooms thinly sliced (note 2)
- 3 tbsp flour
- 350ml / 0.7pt milk
- 100ml / 3.4oz prawn broth (or water, note 3)
- ½ cube chicken stock (note 3)
- ½ tsp salt
- A pinch of white pepper (or black pepper)
- 2 cups cooked rice (loosely packed 2 cups)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 30g / 1.1oz carrot finely diced to about 5mm / 3⁄16"
- 30g / 1.1oz onion finely diced
- Salt and pepper
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Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
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Add carrot and onion, sauté for a minute or two until the onion becomes semi-transparent.
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Add the rice and mix, breaking up the lumps. Season with salt and pepper.
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When the rice grains are well coated in butter and the vegetables are mixed evenly, transfer the butter rice to two individual gratin baking dishes.
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Heat the frying pan used for the butter rice over medium high heat. Add a small amount of butter if the pan is too dry.
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Add prawns and cook for a minute, then turn them over and cook further 1 minute.
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Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
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Add onion and mushrooms, sauté until the onion becomes transparent.
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Reduce the heat to low, add flour and mix well for a couple of minutes.
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Add about 1/3 of milk to the pan and mix well to incorporate until lump free (you may need to whisk it). Add the remaining milk, prawn broth, chicken stock cube, salt and pepper.
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Increase the heat to medium. As the sauce heats up, it thickens. Stir regularly at first, then constantly as it thickens.
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Once the Sauce is thick enough (note 5), transfer the prawns to the béchamel sauce. Mix and remove from the stove immediately.
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Preheat broiler (note 6).
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Pour the béchamel sauce over the butter rice in the baking dishes, covering the rice completely.
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Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the sauce.
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Place the baking dishes on the rack not too close to the heat (about 10cm / 4” away). Bake for a few minutes or until the sauce starts bubbling around the edges and the top becomes golden. Serve immediately. (note 6)
1. I used medium size prawns, 12 prawns in total. Smaller prawns are OK too.
If you only have large prawns, I’d recommend cutting them half or even smaller so that many prawn pieces are scattered in the béchamel sauce.
Instead of prawns, you can use chicken pieces, seafood mix or fish fillet pieces such as salmon.
You can also replace prawns with vegetables such as zucchini, capsicum, eggplant and varieties of mushrooms.
2. I used button mushrooms but you can use other mushrooms including Asian mushrooms.
3. I bought fresh prawns for today’s dish and boiled the heads and shells to make the broth. I removed blackish/brownish organ inside the heads so that the broth became clear.
You don’t have to have prawn broth but it gives the béchamel sauce a stronger prawn flavour.
Alternatively, replace 100ml prawn broth and ½ stock cube with 100ml / 3.4oz chicken broth.
4. Peas and corn kernels are also good alternatives.
5. Test: draw a path with finger on the back of the wooden spoon. if it stays, it's thick enough.
6. If you don’t have a broiler, heat the oven to 230°C / 446°F and place the dishes on the highest rack. Bake for 6-8 minutes.
7. Nutrition per serving.
serving: 603g calories: 612kcal fat: 22g (34%) saturated fat: 13g (65%) trans fat: 0.7g polyunsaturated fat: 1.4g monounsaturated fat: 5.9g cholesterol: 162mg (54%) sodium: 1655mg (69%) potassium: 751mg (21%) carbohydrates: 73g (24%) dietary fibre: 2.5g (10%) sugar: 4.1g protein: 29g vitamin a: 71% vitamin c: 11% calcium: 31% iron: 18%
Meal Ideas
A typical Japanese meal consists of a main dish, a couple of side dishes, a soup and rice. I try to come up with a combination of dishes with a variety of flavours, colours, textures and make-ahead dishes.
Since Prawn Doria is a rice dish but not a lot of prawn is added to it, I picked Side dish 1 to supplement protein. Mizore-ae cleanses the palate and quail eggs go well with béchamel sauce.
Since there are very few vegetables in Prawn Doria, I picked a couple of vegetable side dishes and a soup that contains a lot of vegetables. Surprisingly, béchamel sauce goes well with a sweet dish like Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms.
I listed three side dishes as possible dishes to pick but since Prawn Doria is a high calorie dish, it is quite OK to just have one side dish.
- Main: Prawn Doria (Japanese Rice Gratin) – today’s dish.
- Side dish 1: Smoked Salmon with Grated Daikon Dressing (Mizore-ae) – or Izakaya-style Marinated Quail Eggs if you prefer a make-ahead dish.
- Side dish 2: Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms – make ahead.
- Side dish 3: Baby Mustard Greens and Tuna Salad – substitute baby mustard greens with spinach, broccolini or other Chinese greens if you prefer.
- Soup: Japanese Vegetable Soup (Kenchinjiru) – you can make ahead.
I’m curious, why leave the tail shell on? It makes the dish so much more difficult to eat,.
Hi Lynne, it’s purley for presentation purposes. They add a colour to the dish. It’s quite alright to remove the tail if you find it hard to eat.
I’m with you Lynne. I find it really frustrating if prawn tail shells are left on – it becomes so messy if you want all the prawn meat, and I hate leaving any.
I used this recipe as a base but changed a bunch of stuff. It was my first time making Doria. But I’ve eaten it in restaurants in Japan.
I didn’t add vegetables to the rice but added sliced boiled carrots and broccoli to the bechamel with the prawns which gave the Doria a pop of color. I also added some Parmesan into the bechamel as well as on top. I used a blowtorch instead of broiling as I’m very impatient (this did work well though). I forgot the onion and eyeballed the measurements.
Despite all of that, it tasted great!! I think this must be a really easy dish that anyone can make.
Hi Nicola, that’s fantastic! It is quite OK to change the recipe slightly and try different things. As long as the fundamental part of the ingredients and process are maintained (in this case, bechamel), you can make a great dish. Congrats!
Hello,
I grew up in Tokyo and seafood Doria has always been one of my favorites. Some restaurants add wine to their white sauces and I think the Japanese are very good at using wine in western cooking. Can you tell me what type of wine to use in sauces? I know white wine is common but I would like to know the brands, as well.
Thank you
Hi Linda, it is quite difficult to give you a brand of wine because there are so many kinds in each country, in the world! I don’t have a specific brand to use in cooking.
As a rule of thumb, you need to buy a dry wine, i.e. not sweet, and not woody. I would not use a very expensive wine for home cooking. I buy a cheap bottle.
An absolutely incredible blend of flavours from the rice through the bechamel to the hint of Parmesan. I especially liked the hint of flavour of the prawn broth. Everyone at the table was very impressed. Yumiko I really enjoy the way you present your recipes. As I have commented to Navi, “I really appreciate how you make me appear to be a far better cook than I actually am. Thank you for your site.
Hi Gord, that’s really great. You must be a good cook to be able to impress everyone!
Hi yumiko san,
I tried this recipe for my toodler and she LOVE it, altho i didnt add the chicken stock (forgot haha). I was wondering, if this dish can be stored in the fridge? Thanks a lot for sharing xx
Hi Ying, you can keep it in the fridge for １ー2 days. You might find that the pasta becomes a bit watery. You can also freeze it for 1 month.
Hi Yumiko-san,
I tried this recipe last night using frozen prawns and it was fantastic. Even with chicken stock instead of the prawn stock it still tasted really lovely. I added a fresh salad to balance the meal and it received rave reviews – will definitely be on high rotation.
Thanks so much for all your work preparing and writing about your recipes — it’s really appreciated.
All the best, Jenny.
Hi Jenny-san, that’s fantastic! I’m glad everyone enjoyed it.
Made to serve 12 for a dinner party. Side was small cuts of lightly fried cauliflower and broccoli, coated with a bit of tempura batter.
Only differences from your recipe were using a premade lobster broth and veg stock cube for the bechamel sauce, rather than shrimp broth and chicken stock cube. Also deglazed the fond in the sautee pan with a bit of dry white wine and added a bit to the bechamel as well. Flavor was greatly enhanced!
I remember eating Doria in restaurants during the years I lived in Japan. Always enjoyed the dish and happy to have this recipe to make my own! Oishii so! Bon appetit!
Hi Frank, wow! Your Doria sounds almost like the restaurant quality!
Thanks…I like fusion Japanese and Western meals as well .
Here’s one I’m proud of…and our guests loved it…
https://www.facebook.com/SeenageElf/photos/pcb.520950125184306/520949871850998/?type=3&theater
Looks delicious!
Sounds absolutely delicious!!!!!
Marie, it is! Please try and let me know what you think.
Could you make a broth using shrimp paste?
Hi Julian, shrimp paste would be too strong for this as it is a fermented paste.
A lovely and soothing-looking dish! I can’t wait to try this! Thank you!
Hi Deb, thank you! Please let me know how it went.
Hi Yumiko-San,
I made this last night, and it was so delicious, thank you.
I lived in Tokyo for many years and always wondered why Japanese Doria was different to Italian gratins! Now I get it 🙂
Thank you for a fabulous recipe.
Hi Anne Marie, that’s great! I love both gratin and doria. As you say, they are different and both delicious.