Pirafu (ピラフ, butter-consommé pilaf)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed lidded frying pan or shallow pot
• •Fine-mesh sieve for draining rice
• •Small saucepan for warming stock
• •Shamoji (rice paddle), or a wooden spatula

Instructions

1. 1

   Rinse the rice

   Put the rice in a bowl, cover with cool water, stir with your hand, and pour the cloudy water off at once. Repeat until the water is only faintly cloudy, then drain in a sieve for 20 to 30 minutes, until the grains look matte. Washing removes loose surface starch; draining matters just as much, because butter can coat a dry grain and cannot do much with a wet one.

   For plain rice we often soak. Here the stock carries the seasoning, so stop at a good drain. Wet rice gives you a soft clump before the consommé has had its say.
2. 2

   Warm the stock

   Warm the consommé or stock in a small saucepan. If you're using shrimp and have the shells, simmer the shells in the stock for 8 minutes, strain, and top the liquid back up to 1 3/4 cups. Season the chicken or shrimp with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the white pepper. Warm stock keeps the pan from cooling suddenly, so the rice begins cooking evenly the moment the lid goes on.

3. 3

   Brown the protein

   Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter with the oil in a heavy lidded frying pan or shallow pot over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the outside turns opaque, then transfer it to a bowl. If using shrimp, cook 30 to 45 seconds per side, just until the edges turn pink while the center is still a little translucent, then transfer it. This first touch of butter seasons the pan; pulling the protein early keeps it tender while the rice cooks.

4. 4

   Cook the vegetables

   Add the onion, carrot, mushrooms, and a small pinch of the remaining salt to the same pan. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until the onion is translucent and the mushroom moisture has cooked away. You're not looking for deep browning. You're driving off water so the rice can be sautéed, not merely warmed in a damp pan.

5. 5

   Coat the rice

   Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and the drained rice. Stir for 3 to 4 minutes, until each grain looks glossy and the edges turn slightly translucent. Add the sake or wine, if using, and cook until the pan is nearly dry again. This is the method, not the menu: fat coats the grain before the stock enters, which keeps pirafu light instead of heavy.

6. 6

   Add consommé

   Pour in the warm consommé or stock, the shōyu, the bay leaf, and the remaining salt if your stock tastes mild. Return the chicken now if you're using it; keep shrimp aside for later. Stir once, scrape the bottom clean, then level the rice. Bring it to a brisk simmer. That one stir distributes the seasoning; more stirring releases starch and makes the rice sticky.

7. 7

   Cook covered

   Cover tightly, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 14 minutes without lifting the lid. Open quickly: the surface should look pocked, with no free liquid. Scatter the peas on top; if using shrimp, lay the shrimp on top now. Cover again and cook 3 minutes more. Peas go late to stay green, and shrimp goes late because a small shrimp has no patience for 17 minutes of heat.

   The chicken pieces must be small enough to finish with the rice. If you cut them larger than 1/2 inch, check one before serving.
8. 8

   Brown the bottom

   Raise the heat to medium-low for 45 to 60 seconds, listening for a soft crackle at the bottom and smelling the butter turn nutty. Take the pan off the heat, keep it covered, and rest for 10 minutes. The rice finishes in its trapped warmth, and the bottom sets into okoge, the browned rice crust, instead of burning.

   Smoke means you've gone too far. The prize is a faint browned bottom, not a bitter one.
9. 9

   Fluff and serve

   Remove the bay leaf. Dot the rice with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter and scatter over the parsley, if using. Fluff with a shamoji or wooden spatula from the outside inward, lifting some of the browned bottom through the rice in small pieces. Taste and adjust with salt or white pepper. Serve in a low mound, not packed tight. Leave it room.

Chef Tips

• •Use Japanese short-grain rice. Long-grain rice makes another kind of pilaf, a good one in its own tradition, but this yōshoku dish expects the slight cling of Japanese rice kept light by rinsing, draining, and butter.
• •The stock decides the dish. Clear homemade chicken stock or shrimp-shell stock gives the cleanest depth. Many Japanese home pirafu recipes use a consommé cube, a real weeknight habit of yōshoku; if you use one, dissolve it in the measured water and hold back the salt until the end.
• •In spring, use fresh peas if they're sweet. Out of season, frozen peas are more honest than tired pods. Shun is half the flavor, and no amount of butter repairs vegetables that have gone dull.
• •Keep the dice small and even. The onion, carrot, and mushrooms should season the rice quietly, not become a separate stir-fry sitting inside it.
• •For a meatless table, use konbu and dried shiitake dashi with extra mushrooms and peas, and skip the chicken or shrimp. Call it kinoko pirafu, mushroom pirafu. That is honmono, not a pretend chicken dish.
• •Don't stir once the lid is on. If the pan is heavy and the flame is gentle, the rice will arrange itself better than your spoon can.

Advance Preparation

• •The rice can be rinsed and drained 30 minutes before cooking. Don't leave wet rice sitting uncovered for hours, or the grains can crack and cook unevenly.
• •The consommé, chicken stock, or shrimp-shell stock can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated.
• •The vegetables can be diced 1 day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Keep peas separate so they stay bright.
• •Pirafu is best freshly made, but leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated. Warm them covered in a pan with a spoonful of water, then uncover briefly to refresh the bottom.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)