Rice

Last month, courtesy of the Japanese consulate we attended an event at the Edinburgh food and drink academy.

While there we sat though a master class in how to cook rice. Taught by

Noriko Shirai and Junichi Shirai of Gohan-domei.

They have dedicated their lives to teaching the art of enjoying steamed rice.

Just hearing that calling makes us emotional, not sure why… but it feels simple enough to be real.

We enjoyed doing this immensly, it is a ritual we will no doubt repeat.

Set aside 60 minutes and give her your full attention.

(A caveat for the modern mammal: 30 of those minutes are waiting patiently for rice to soak / steam, the bits that require attention are the washing time and cooking time)

Ingredients:

• Sushi rice 300g

Tools:

• One high sided pan & lid (See-through lid if possible)

Method:

WASH:

1. Cover your rice with water and strain, keeping the rice in the same bowl and using your hand to catch any adventurous grains trying to escape.
   
2. Making your hand into a bear claw, run it though the rice in a circular motion. The idea is to have very little water in the bowl as you massage it, so that the grains can rub against each other. You are essentially polishing the rice to try and remove as much excess starch as possible.
   
3. Cover with water and strain again.
   
4. Repeat this process untill the water runs clear, (This took us 5 or 6 go’s)

SOAK:

1. Leave your rice in the water for another 30 minutes.
2. Strain and weigh your rice. At this point our 300g of Rice was weighing 400g. Times this 400 by 1.2 to get 480g.

COOK:

1. Add your soaked rice and 480g of water to your cooking pot.
   Cover and turn on the heat.
   Once it was simmering (after about 7 minutes) we turned the heat down low.
2. Our pan did not have a see-though lid so the next 15 minutes we spent trying to discern weather there was any water left.
3. Listening to the bubbles, smelling the progressively delicious rice scent and observing the gradually decreasing plume of steam.
4. After a total of 25 minutes cooking we decided it was time to turn off the heat.

STEAM: At this point DO NOT TAKE OFF THE LID. she must sit for a further 15 minutes.

This allows the rice to absorb any remaining water left in the bottom of the pot. (And will soften any caramelised rice stuck to the bottom of your pot if you have slightly over done it)

EAT:

They were quite clear on the fact that they do not add salt, so we can taste the flavour of the rice in its natural state.

This is also why its important to have the final steaming step and to never strain the rice through a sieve, as the drained water would take with it precious nutrients from the rice.

Its typical to add soy sauce / shoyu at this stage, so reach for your favourite bottle.

Before consuming take a moment to let her steam kiss your face please. 🥰