Sweet Potato Rice (さつまいもご飯, Satsumaimo Gohan)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Donabe rice pot (gohan nabe), or an electric rice cooker
• •Rice paddle (shamoji)
• •Fine-mesh sieve or rice-washing bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Rinse the rice

   Put the rice in a bowl, cover with cold water, and stir with your fingers. Pour off the cloudy water, then repeat until the water is only lightly cloudy, usually three or four rinses. You're washing away loose surface starch, not scrubbing the grain bare. Too much starch makes the finished rice gummy instead of glossy and separate.

2. 2

   Soak and drain

   Cover the rinsed rice with fresh cold water and soak for 20 minutes, then drain well for 10 minutes. The soak lets the center of each grain take in water before cooking, so the rice finishes tender all the way through rather than soft outside and firm inside.

   If you're using a rice cooker, this soaking still helps. The machine is clever, but it cannot put water into the center of a dry grain by wishful thinking.
3. 3

   Cut the satsumaimo

   Scrub the satsumaimo and leave the skin on, then cut it into 1.5cm cubes. Soak the cubes in cold water for 10 minutes and drain them well. The brief soak clears surface starch and keeps the cut faces bright, while the skin gives color and helps the pieces hold their shape.

4. 4

   Season the water

   Put the drained rice in a donabe rice pot or rice cooker. Add the sake and salt, then add the cold water. Stir gently until the salt dissolves and the rice lies level. Seasoning the water now matters because the grains drink it as they cook. Salt added later only sits on the surface.

5. 5

   Add the potato

   Scatter the drained satsumaimo over the rice in an even layer. Lay the konbu on top if using. Do not stir the potato into the rice. The rice cooks best as a level bed, and the satsumaimo steams gently above it, staying distinct instead of breaking into the grain.

6. 6

   Cook the rice

   For a donabe, cover and bring to a steady boil over medium heat, about 8 to 10 minutes. When you hear the pot bubbling clearly, lower the heat and cook 12 minutes more, then turn off the heat. For a rice cooker, use the regular white-rice setting. In either case, don't lift the lid early. The trapped heat is part of the cooking, not an afterthought.

7. 7

   Rest and fold

   Let the pot rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove the konbu. With a shamoji, or rice paddle, cut down through the rice and fold from the bottom, turning gently so the satsumaimo stays in pieces. Sprinkle with toasted black sesame and serve while the rice is glossy and fragrant.

Chef Tips

• •Choose satsumaimo that feels heavy for its size, with taut red-purple skin and no blackened ends. Late autumn is its shun, and the right potato gives you the chestnut-like sweetness this bowl depends on.
• •A firm Japanese or Korean sweet potato is the sensible stand-in if satsumaimo isn't sold near you. Orange sweet potato is wetter and softer. It will cook, but it makes a different bowl.
• •Don't peel the potato. The skin is not decoration only. It marks the season in the rice, and it keeps the cubes from disappearing into sweetness.
• •Keep the seasoning quiet. Soy sauce turns this into another kind of mixed rice and hides the pale color you came for. Salt and sake are enough.
• •A small sheet of konbu gives a clean savory base. Instant powder is mostly salt and noise here, and this dish has no need of noise.

Advance Preparation

• •The rice can be rinsed, soaked, and drained up to 1 hour before cooking. Keep it covered so the surface doesn't dry.
• •The satsumaimo can be cut and held in cold water for up to 2 hours in the refrigerator. Drain well before cooking, or the water ratio will drift.
• •Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated. Reheat gently, or shape the same-day leftovers into small onigiri while the rice is still slightly warm.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)