Mountain Vegetable Sticky Rice (山菜おこわ, Sansai Okowa)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Steamer (mushiki) or bamboo seirō set over a pot, or a metal steamer insert
• •Sarashi cotton cloth, or a clean damp kitchen towel
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Wooden rice paddle (shamoji)

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Wash the mochigome in several changes of cold water, rubbing the grains gently between your palms, until the water runs almost clear. Soak it in fresh cold water for at least 2 hours, then drain in a sieve for 30 minutes. Mochigome must drink before it steams; if the center is dry now, the outside will turn gluey before the heart of the grain softens.

   The soak is the first secret of okowa. You are not washing away character, you are giving the grain enough water to cook evenly.
2. 2

   Make the dashi

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in 3 cups cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat. Pull the konbu when the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides, before it boils. Bring the water 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 and let it drip without squeezing.

   Boiled konbu turns the stock bitter and slick. Squeezed bonito flakes give up strong, oily flavors. Both rules are only ways of saying protect the clarity.
3. 3

   Prepare the sansai

   Soak the dried shiitake in 1/2 cup warm water until soft, about 30 minutes. Strain and save the soaking liquid, then trim the stems and slice the caps. Rinse water-packed warabi and zenmai well and drain them. Use only sansai that has already had aku-nuki, the bitterness-removing soak or alkaline blanch. Fresh ferns are not ready just because they look lively.

   Warabi and zenmai need proper preparation before they reach this recipe. If you bought them fresh, ask the seller how to do aku-nuki for that exact plant, or buy prepared sansai from a Japanese grocer.
4. 4

   Simmer the vegetables

   In a small pot, combine 1 1/4 cups dashi, 1/4 cup strained shiitake soaking liquid, the usukuchi soy sauce, mirin, sake, and salt. Taste it. It should be slightly more seasoned than you want the finished rice, because the mochigome will soften it. Add the shiitake, takenoko, carrot, and aburaage and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add the warabi and zenmai for the last 2 minutes, just long enough to take on the broth without losing their spring edge. Lift out the solids and keep the liquid hot.

   Season the vegetables first, but don't bully them. Sansai should taste like the mountain, not like soy sauce wearing a green hat.
5. 5

   Begin steaming

   Line a steamer with a damp sarashi cloth or a clean damp kitchen towel. Spread the drained mochigome in an even layer, cover, and steam over a steady boil for 20 minutes. Keep enough water in the lower pot so the heat stays constant. The rice should look swollen and slightly translucent at the edges, but it will not be fully seasoned yet.

6. 6

   Season the rice

   Tip the hot rice into a wide bowl. Sprinkle over about 3/4 cup of the hot seasoned liquid while folding with a shamoji, a rice paddle. The rice should glisten, with no puddle at the bottom. Fold in the simmered vegetables and aburaage gently, lifting rather than stirring, so the grains stay whole.

   Feeding the rice after the first steaming lets the opened grains take in flavor. Drowning it at the start gives you soft rice with less chew, which is not okowa's good nature.
7. 7

   Finish the okowa

   Return the rice and vegetables to the lined steamer, cover, and steam for 15 to 20 minutes more. Taste one grain from the center. It should be chewy and tender with no white core. If it is still chalky inside, sprinkle on 2 tablespoons more seasoned liquid and steam for another 5 minutes.

   A white core means the rice needs a little more liquid and time. It is not failure, only the grain asking for its last drink.
8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Take the steamer off the heat and let the okowa rest, covered, for 10 minutes. This settles the surface moisture so the rice chews cleanly instead of clumping. Fluff gently, mound into bowls with room left around the rice, and finish with kinome leaves if you have them. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chef Tips

• •This is early-spring food. Buy fresh takenoko, warabi, and zenmai only when they are at shun, and ask whether the ferns have already had aku-nuki. Out of season, good water-packed sansai is a sensible stand-in; it tastes quieter, but it lets you practice the method.
• •Do not use raw warabi or zenmai straight from the field. The old treatment with ash or alkaline water is not ceremony, it removes aku, the harsh bite that would spoil the rice and your stomach along with it.
• •Drain the soaked mochigome well. Too much loose water on the outside makes the grains smear together, while water inside the grain gives the chew you came for.
• •For a meatless table, skip the katsuobushi and make the dashi with konbu plus the dried shiitake soaking liquid. That follows shōjin ryōri logic, and it is honmono, not a lesser version.
• •Serve okowa in a restrained mound, not packed to the rim. The rice is rich with chew, so a smaller bowl with space around it feels calmer and tastes better. Leave it room.

Advance Preparation

• •The dashi can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated. Warm it gently before using so the seasoning enters the rice cleanly.
• •The shiitake can soak overnight in the refrigerator. The soaking liquid is part of the flavor, so strain it and keep it.
• •The sansai and aburaage can be simmered in the seasoned liquid 1 day ahead. Keep the solids and liquid together, then separate them before steaming the rice.
• •The mochigome can soak overnight in the refrigerator. Drain it for 30 minutes before steaming, or the finished okowa will be heavy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 260g)