Mushroom Okowa, vegan きのこおこわ

日本語のレシピは　ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の　Hachidory から　ご覧下さい。

 

It has been for a while since the big typhoon had gone.

There were landslides along my regular routes to the mountains and they still have scars.

But fortunately, I myself and my home were not affected.

 

The nature is so fascinating, bringing us the peace of mind and happiness, but at the same time it has the opposite side like us.

It is the order of the nature, yin and yang.

The nature is so powerful, but not infinitely, may be it could be so vulnerable.

 

Thanksgiving Day is coming soon.

(If you are interested in knowing about the equivalent day in Japan, visit this post. )

 We need to thank the nature for its blessing in the form of harvests.

Pumpkins, chestnuts, sweet potatoes, taros, lotus roots, walnuts, ginkonuts, persimmons have been harvested and are widely available now.

Most of them are starchy and fatty.

It is the blessing from the nature for us to be prepared for the cold winter.

It is interesting that every year my appetite increases in this season, and those foods satisfy my heart and tummy.

Among them, rice is the fundamental staple which is the source of my power.

Newly harvested rice is so tasty with a hint of sweetness and  moisture.

 

Today I am sharing the glutinous rice recipe, “Okowa”.
My recipe is based on the very traditional method.

If you search “Okowa” you can hit many recipes, but most of them are following the contemporary quick boiling method, often using the electric rice cooker.

“Okowa” literally means hard, and it is something like al dente, the word to express the certain firmness of the pasta. 
This texture cannot be yielded by boiling and simmering the rice. 
It can be obtained only by steaming.

Therefore if you want a real “Okowa”, follow my recipe !

 

Kinoko Okowa / Steamed glutinous rice with mushrooms

 

Ingredients (for 4~5 servings) 

2 cups mochigome / glutinous rice

200g mushroom of your choice (e.g. shimeji, enoki, shiitake, maidake)

Maidake, Enokidake, Shimeji

 

20~50 ginko nuts (optional)

Marinade for mushroom

2 Tbsp Kobudashi / kelp soup broth

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp mirin / Japanese sweet rice wine

2 tsp sake / Japanese rice wine

1 tsp salt

 

Utensils

Steamer

Open weave tea towel- big enough to wrap the rice in the steamer

 

Procedure

1.   Wash glutinous rice and soak in water for 4 ~ 8 hours.

2.   Combine all the seasonings for marinade in a bowl.

3.   Tear the mushroom to bite sizes with your fingers, and soak in the marinade for 30~60 min.

 

4.   Fill the bottom part of the steamer with water and bring it to a boil.

5.   Wet the tea towel with water and spread on top part of the steamer.

6.   Drain glutinous rice and spread onto the tea towel.  Poke holes here and there in order to distribute the steam equally to all the grains while they are steamed.

If you want to add ginko nuts, place them at the cetner.

7.   Cover the rice with tea towel and place the top part of the steamer with rice on the boiling bottom part of the steamer.  Steam for 20 min over high flame.

8.   Transfer the glutinous rice into a bowl and add the mushroom and marinade, mix with the spatula in slicing motion quickly.

Ginko nuts tune to jade color after steaming, but they change to yellow color again later. 

 

 

9.   Transfer back onto the top part of the steamer lined with tea towel, and steam for another 20 min.

10.         Let it sit for 10 min before serving.

11.         Top with ginko nuts if available.

Another version of autumn decoration with maple shape carrots and edible chrysanthemum flowers.

 

The table of autumn.  Other dishes are also representing autumn season.

Notes

l  Refer to this post for the preparation of ginko nuts.

l  You can make “Kuri Okowa/ steamed glutinous rice with chestnuts “ in the same method.   Steam the peeled chestnuts together with the glutinous rice from the beginning without marinating in the marinade.  Add the marinade after first steaming and steam further for another 20 min.   Sprinkle grinded black sesame seeds before serving.

Refer to this post "Kurigohan" for details. (It is written only in Japanese.) 

 

Happy cooking !

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