Tako-meshi (たこ飯, Setouchi octopus rice)

Octopus frightens people a little. It looks stubborn, all muscle and suction cups, as if it came to the kitchen ready to argue. Good. Let it argue in the pot, not in your mouth.

Tako-meshi is one of the great rice dishes of the Seto Inland Sea, where octopus is not decoration but the reason for the bowl. The one detail that decides it is this: cook the octopus gently before it meets the rice. Raw or under-tender octopus tightens as the rice cooks, and then you have briny rice with rubber in it. Simmer it first with sake, soy, mirin, and ginger, and the broth becomes the seasoning the rice will later drink.

This is takikomi gohan, rice cooked together with its seasonings and main ingredient. We don't drown it in sauce. The flavor comes from clear dashi and the octopus liquor, measured carefully so the rice cooks cleanly and each grain stays distinct. Nothing hidden, nothing hurried. Set a small bowl of this beside soup and one grilled dish, and dinner already knows where it is.