Ochazuke – Japanese Rice Soup with Plum, Nori and Wasabi
This is one of the recipes I picked up when I was living in Japan – it's called ochazuke, and is a great way of using up left over rice, although I sometimes make rice especially. If you're feeling down, or just a bit sick, this is such a warming dish that never fails to make me feel better. Although I started off in Japan with the contents of a packet and pouring hot water over it, when I came back to Europe it was harder to find and I wanted to see if I could buy the individual ingredients. It's almost as easy to recreate yourself, and it certainly tastes as good!
Ingredients
- 1 portion rice – cooked
- 300 ml freshly brewed green tea
- 1 or 2 pickled plums (available in Asian markets or health stores)
- 2 cm wasabi paste (optional) – always read the ingredients
- 2 tsp soy sauce – you can use gluten-free Tamari too
- Nori seaweed – I usually cut a 1 inch strip off the sheet and this is enough for one person.
Here’s how you make it
- Put the cooked rice into a bowl, making sure the bowl isn’t too full.
- Cut the flesh off the plum and add it on top of the rice. Add in the wasabi too.
- Use scissors to snip the nori into little strips to sprinkle into the bowl.
- Pour the tea over the bowl until it is all covered. Use a spoon to mix it in.
- Add the soy sauce to taste.
- Enjoy with a spoon.
diet types
Contributor
Alastair Coates
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