Matsutake Gohan (松茸ご飯, matsutake mushroom rice)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rice cooker, or a heavy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Rice paddle (shamoji), or a broad wooden spoon
• •Small soft brush or damp cloth for cleaning the mushroom

Instructions

1. 1

   Rinse the rice

   Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water, using your fingers lightly so you don't break the grains. Drain it well for at least 20 minutes. Washing clears away loose starch, and draining lets the rice take up the seasoned dashi evenly instead of cooking with a wet outside and a hard center.

2. 2

   Make clear dashi

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in the cold water and warm it slowly until the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides of the pot, then lift the konbu out before it boils. 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 minutes. Strain through a cloth or fine sieve and let it drip without pressing.

   Boiled konbu can turn the stock bitter and slick. Squeezed bonito flakes give up harsh, oily flavor. For this rice, clarity is not decoration, it's the foundation.
3. 3

   Clean the matsutake

   Trim only the very dirty base from the matsutake. Wipe the cap and stem with a barely damp cloth or scrape clinging soil gently with the back of a small knife. Don't soak it. Water steals the aroma, and with matsutake the aroma is half the dish.

4. 4

   Slice the mushroom

   Cut the matsutake into thin lengthwise slices, keeping a little cap and stem in each piece where you can. You may also tear a few thicker pieces by hand along the grain. The cut opens the fragrance, while the torn pieces give a more uneven, natural bite. Let the knife do its quiet work.

5. 5

   Season the pot

   Put the drained rice in a rice cooker pot or a heavy saucepan. Add the sake, usukuchi shōyu, salt, and mirin if using, then add enough dashi to reach the normal 2-cup rice mark, or about 1 3/4 cups total liquid for a saucepan. Stir once to distribute the seasoning, then level the rice. The seasoning must be even before the mushroom goes on top, because stirring after cooking would crush the grains and bury the scent.

6. 6

   Cook with matsutake

   Lay the matsutake slices over the rice in a loose, even layer. Cook on the regular white-rice setting, or bring a covered saucepan to a boil, reduce to very low, cook 12 minutes, then rest off the heat 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Keeping the lid closed traps the fragrance in the rice, which is exactly where you want it.

7. 7

   Fold and serve

   Open the lid and breathe first, then gently fold the rice from the edges toward the center with a rice paddle, lifting rather than mashing. Serve in small bowls with a few mitsuba leaves or a thread of yuzu peel if you like. The garnish should sharpen the season, not perfume over the matsutake.

Chef Tips

• •Buy matsutake by smell, not by size. It should smell clean and piney, with a firm stem and no wet, tired patches. If it smells flat, choose another autumn rice dish instead. Nothing useful happens by forcing a luxury ingredient past its moment.
• •Use usukuchi shōyu if you can. It seasons without darkening the rice too much, and the pale color lets the matsutake look like itself. Regular soy sauce works in a pinch, but use a little less and accept the darker color.
• •For a meatless table, make the dashi with konbu and dried shiitake. Soak both in cold water overnight, then warm gently and remove before boiling. That is honmono in the temple-kitchen line, not a lesser thing, though it will give a deeper mushroom bass note.
• •Do not add chicken, carrots, or a crowd of other vegetables here. Those make fine mixed rice, but matsutake gohan is built around one seasonal fragrance. Let one voice speak.

Advance Preparation

• •The dashi can be made one day ahead and kept refrigerated. Warm it only enough to take off the chill before cooking the rice.
• •The rice can be rinsed and drained up to 1 hour ahead. Keep it covered so the grains don't dry on the surface.
• •Clean and slice the matsutake shortly before cooking. Once cut, its fragrance begins to fade.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 230g)