Chicken and Burdock Rice (鶏ごぼうの炊き込みご飯, Tori Gobō no Takikomi Gohan)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rice cooker, donabe (earthenware rice pot), or heavy pot with a tight lid
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Shamoji (rice paddle), or a broad wooden spoon
• •Stiff brush or the back of a knife for scrubbing gobō

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Put the rice in a bowl, cover it with water, stir with your fingers, and drain the milky water at once. Wash again two or three times, until the water is cloudy but no longer thick. Cover with fresh water and soak for 20 minutes, or 30 minutes if the kitchen is cold, then drain in a sieve for 10 minutes. Washing removes loose surface starch so the grains cook cleanly; soaking gives the center of each grain time to drink before heat tightens the outside.

   Don't skip the draining time. Rice that goes into the pot dripping wet changes the liquid balance, and rice is very exacting about small amounts of water.
2. 2

   Make the dashi

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in the cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat, about 10 minutes. Pull the konbu when the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides of the pot. Bring the water just to a gentle boil, add the katsuobushi all at once, take the pot off the heat, and leave it alone for 2 to 3 minutes, until the flakes sink. Strain through a cloth-lined sieve and let it drip on its own.

   Boiled konbu turns the stock faintly bitter and slick. Squeezed bonito flakes give oily, strong flavors. The rule is only the shortest way to say protect the clarity.
3. 3

   Shave the gobō

   Scrub the gobō under running water with a stiff brush or the back of a knife, but don't peel it white. Hold the root over a bowl of water and whittle off thin shavings with your knife, the sasagaki cut, as if sharpening a pencil. Soak the shavings for 5 minutes, swirl once, and drain well. The skin and outer layer carry the aroma; the brief soak removes harsh tannin, while a long soak washes away the fragrance that makes the dish worth cooking.

4. 4

   Season the chicken

   Cut the chicken thigh into small, even pieces and toss them with 1 teaspoon shōyu and 1 teaspoon sake. Let them stand while you measure the cooking liquid. The pieces need to be small enough to cook through with the rice, and the light seasoning takes away the raw edge before the chicken gives its fat and flavor to the pot.

5. 5

   Measure the liquid

   Put the drained rice in a rice cooker, donabe, or heavy pot. For a rice cooker, add the 2 tablespoons shōyu, 1 tablespoon sake, mirin, and salt, then add dashi up to the 2-gō white rice line. For a donabe or heavy pot, combine those seasonings with enough dashi to make 400ml total, then pour it over the rice. Level the rice with your hand. The liquid should taste a little too seasoned to drink, because plain rice will soften it as it cooks.

6. 6

   Layer the toppings

   Scatter the drained gobō over the rice, then add the carrot if using, and the seasoned chicken on top. Do not stir them through. This feels a little wrong the first time, which is how you know you're paying attention. Mixed into the raw rice, the toppings can block water from reaching the grains and leave hard spots. Resting on top, they season downward while the rice cooks evenly.

7. 7

   Cook the rice

   In a rice cooker, use the regular white rice setting. In a donabe or heavy pot, cover tightly and set over medium heat until you hear steady bubbling, 7 to 9 minutes. Lower the heat as far as it will go and cook for 12 minutes, then turn off the heat without lifting the lid. The covered pot is doing quiet work now, and peeking lets out the heat the rice needs.

8. 8

   Rest covered

   Let the rice rest, still covered, for 15 minutes. This is not waiting around. The trapped heat finishes the centers of the grains, and the moisture settles back into the rice instead of escaping the moment you open the lid.

9. 9

   Fluff and serve

   Open the lid and use a shamoji, a rice paddle, to lift from the bottom and fold the chicken and gobō through gently. Don't press down. Rice wants air after being shut in the pot. Serve in modest bowls with mitsuba or scallion and a few sesame seeds if you like, leaving the bowl a little room rather than packing it full.

Chef Tips

• •Choose gobō that is firm, slender, and fragrant, with no limp bend. Soil on the skin is not a flaw. Scrub it clean, don't peel it bare, because much of the aroma sits close to the surface.
• •Use chicken thigh, not breast, for this dish. The thigh stays tender through the rice-cooking time, and a little skin gives the grains a quiet gloss. Trim large pockets of fat, but don't make it too lean.
• •Layer the toppings and leave them alone. Stirring before cooking is the common mistake. Stirring after the rest is when the rice is ready to receive them.
• •For a meatless table, make gobō to aburaage no takikomi gohan instead: use konbu and dried shiitake dashi, then add thin strips of blanched aburaage. That's honmono in its own line, not chicken rice with the chicken missing.

Advance Preparation

• •The dashi can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated. The konbu can also soak overnight in the measured cold water for a rounder, gentler stock.
• •Shave the gobō close to cooking time. If you must work ahead, hold the shavings in water for no more than 30 minutes, then drain well, or the root loses too much of its scent.
• •Cooked tori gobō gohan keeps 3 days refrigerated. Cool it quickly in shallow portions, then reheat covered with a small sprinkle of water. It also freezes well for 1 month in individual portions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)