- 360 ml (12.2oz) rice I used 1/4 short grain rice + ¾ sticky rice (note 1)
- 50 g (1.8oz) lotus roots (note 2)
- 50 g (1.8oz) carrot
- 1 aburaage
- 2-3 dried shiitake mushrooms soaked in water and rehydrated (note 3)
- ½ block of konnyaku (note 4)
- 200 ml (6.8oz) dashi stock (note 5)
- 100 ml (3.4oz) shiitake-dashi from dried shiitake in water (note 3)
- 2 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ⅔ tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 5-6 snow peas blanched and sliced thinly diagonally (note 6)
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Wash rice until water runs clear. Soak the rice in water and leave it for 30 minutes.
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Slice lotus roots 2mm (1/16") thick, then cut into 6-8 pieces (I cut them like pizza). Cut carrot into 3cm (1¼") lengths, then into 2mm (1/16") thick sticks.
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Cut aburaage in half lengthwise. Place one strip onto the other and cut them into 4mm (3/16") wide strips perpendicular to the first cut. Slice konnyaku into 3mm (⅛") thick slices, then cut them into 3mm (⅛") thick short sticks.
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Squeeze shiitake to get water out (preserve shiitake liquid). Remove and discard the stems, then slice shiitake thinly. If the shiitake is large, cut it in half, then slice so that each slice will not be too long.
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Add the Seasoned Dashi Stock ingredients into a pan over medium high heat. When the stock starts boiling, add lotus roots, carrots, aburaage, konnyaku and shiitake mushrooms. Cook for 2 minutes and turn the heat off.
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Using a sieve, drain the liquid into a bowl and leave the vegetables and the liquid to cool down.
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To cook mixture of sticky rice and short grain rice per the ingredients list, you will need 325ml (11.8oz) of liquid. Using a measuring cup, add all of the liquid collected in step 6 and adjust with water (if not enough) to make up to 325ml (11.8oz).
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Drain the water from the rice as much as possible using a sieve and place the rice in a heavy bottom pot, spread the cooked vegetables over the rice (do not mix), then add the 325ml (11.8oz) liquid.
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Place the lid on and cook as per the steps 5 & 6 of the instruction in How to Cook Rice the Japanese Way. (note 7)
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Serve in a rice bowl with snow peas as garnish if using.
1. The ratio of sticky rice and normal rice can vary and it is really to your liking. But if you increase or decrease the amount of sticky rice, the amount of the liquid required to cook the rice will have to be adjusted since sticky rice needs much less water to cook in.
You can work out the required amount of water using the formula below.
Volume of sticky rice x 0.8 + volume of short grain rice x 1.2 = amount of water
2. Lotus roots are seasonal vegetables and fresh lotus roots may not be available when you need it. But don’t worry, you can use frozen lotus roots, which I often do. Asian grocery stores sell frozen sliced lotus roots in a pack.
In Sydney, I can get thinly sliced lotus roots as well as thick slices. In the case of thick slices, I normally cut them in half (semi circle), then slice into 3 thin slices before chopping them into pieces.
3. Do not use hot water to speed up the process of rehydration. Dried shiitake produces most umami at 5 centigrade. So, if you can plan ahead, rehydrate shiitake in the fridge overnight.
If in a hurry, soak shiitake in water for 1 hour. Slice them (the inside might still be dry) and put them back in the same water and leave for 30 minutes. The liquid from the dried shiitake is called shiitake-dashi (vegetarian dashi stock) which is used to cook the vegetables in this recipe.
4. Konnyaku is a yum cake, made from konnyaku potato. Please see my post Tonjiru (Pork and Vegetable Miso Soup) for more details of konnyaku including photos of konnyaku in a pack.
5. To make it 100% vegetarian gomoku gohan, use konbu dashi instead of using katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes). Please visit the post, Varieties of Dashi Stock.
6. Instead of snow peas, you could use green beans or other vegetables that can add extra colour to the dish.
7. If you are cooking rice using a rice cooker, please follow the rice cooker instructions for the amount of liquid required to cook rice and adjust the quantity in steps 7 and 8.