It’s Matsutake season!!
When you have something as fragrant and precious as Matsutake, you really don’t need to do too much to it. The easiest way to enjoy Matsutake is by making Matsutake Gohan. During the cooking process, your entire house will be filled with that woody pine-like aroma. It practically a flavour bomb~
Recipe for 2 pax
Ingredients:
1 cups Japanese Short Grain Rice
Approx. 90G of Fresh Matsutake (around 3-4 pieces)
Dashi, as needed to reach the 1-cup water line in your rice cooker
2 tsp Shoyu
1-2 tsp Mirin
1 tsp Cooking Sake
1 tsp Dried Hijiki, optional
Mitsuba or chopped spring onion, for garnish
For the Dashi:
Make your own with Kombu + Katsuobushi, or keep things easy with our Natural Dashi Bag or Dashi Powder.
Steps:
1. Wash your rice as you normally would and drain well.
2. Clean the Matsutake, gently wipe away any dirt with a slightly damp kitchen towel.
Do not wash or soak the mushrooms!! We want to keep as much of that beautiful Matsutake aroma as possible!
3. Add the washed rice into your rice cooker together with the Shoyu, Mirin, Cooking Sake and Dried Hijiki.
4. Add in your prepared Dashi up to the water line of your rice cooker and give the liquid a gentle mix.
5. Slice the Matsutake lengthwise and arrange them on top of the rice. Don't mix them in!
Let everything sit for around 15–20 minutes, then cook using your normal rice setting.
6. When it's done, open the rice cooker and enjoy that beautiful scent, and gently fluff everything tog
ether.
7. Top with Mitsuba or spring onion and serve immediately!
Zairyo Tip:
Don't go too heavy on the seasoning as Matsutake is the hero product you want to showcase! The Shoyu, Mirin and Dashi are really just there to bring out its natural earthy aroma and Umami. You can serve it simply with grilled fish, Sashimi or even just a bowl of Miso Soup and you've got yourself a very Japanese autumn meal at home.