Sakura Ebi Gohan (桜えびご飯, spring shrimp rice)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rice cooker, or a heavy pot with a tight lid
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Rice paddle (shamoji), or a broad wooden spoon
• •Dry skillet

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Put the rice in a bowl and cover it with cool water. Swirl with your hand, pour off the cloudy water, and repeat until the water runs almost clear. This washes away loose starch so the finished grains cook cleanly and separate, instead of turning heavy and sticky.

2. 2

   Soak the rice

   Drain the washed rice in a sieve for 10 minutes, then put it in the rice cooker bowl or a heavy pot. Add the cooled dashi and let the rice soak for 20 minutes. Soaking gives the center of each grain time to drink before heat reaches it, which is why the rice cooks evenly all the way through.

   Use cooled dashi. Warm liquid starts softening the outside of the grain before the center has caught up.
3. 3

   Toast the shrimp

   While the rice soaks, put the dried sakura ebi in a dry skillet over low heat and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, just until they smell sweet and nutty. Don't brown them hard. The point is to wake their fragrance, not turn their delicate sea sweetness bitter.

4. 4

   Season the liquid

   Add the sake, usukuchi shoyu, and salt to the rice and dashi. If using a rice cooker, add a little more dashi or water only until the liquid reaches the 2-cup line. If using a pot, use about 2 cups total liquid including the sake and shoyu. Count the seasonings as liquid, because rice counts everything.

5. 5

   Cook the rice

   Scatter most of the toasted sakura ebi over the rice, saving a small handful for the finish. Do not stir them through yet, or the seasoning settles unevenly and the rice can cook patchy. Cook on the normal white-rice setting, or bring a covered pot to a boil, reduce to very low, cook 13 minutes, then turn off the heat.

6. 6

   Rest and fold

   Leave the rice covered for 10 minutes after cooking. This rest finishes the grain and lets the surface moisture settle back in. Open the lid, scatter over the reserved sakura ebi, then fold from the bottom with a rice paddle, cutting and lifting rather than mashing. The rice should be glossy, separate, and faintly pink.

7. 7

   Finish lightly

   Spoon the rice into small bowls with a little height and finish with sesame seeds and mitsuba if using. Keep the garnish modest. The shrimp are the voice of the dish, and there should be nothing hidden.

Chef Tips

• •Buy sakura ebi that are whole, dry, and bright pink, with a clean sea smell. If they smell stale, oily, or dusty, choose another dish. Sourcing first, always.
• •Fresh sakura ebi are a spring pleasure in Shizuoka, but dried sakura ebi are not a poor substitute here. Drying concentrates their fragrance and makes this rice practical for the home kitchen.
• •Use usukuchi shoyu if you have it. It seasons without darkening the rice too much. Regular shoyu works, but use a little less so the dish stays light in color and taste.
• •For a meatless table, cook the rice with konbu and dried shiitake dashi and omit the sakura ebi. That becomes a different mushroom rice, honmono in its own temple-kitchen way, not sakura ebi gohan.

Advance Preparation

• •The dashi can be made up to two days ahead and kept refrigerated. Cool it before using it for the rice.
• •The rice can be washed and drained 30 minutes ahead. Do not leave washed rice sitting dry for hours, or the grains can crack.
• •Leftover sakura ebi gohan keeps one day refrigerated. Rewarm gently with a sprinkle of water, covered, so the rice softens without drying out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 195g)