Takikomi Gohan with Chicken

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5 from 2 votes

Takikomi Gohan with Chicken

This comforting Japanese chicken and rice dish is gentle but filled with umami flavors.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Resting Time15

Total Time45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Japanese

Servings: People

Author: Katie Workman

Ingredients

2 to 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 to 2 tablespoons hijiki
1 ½ cups short-grain rice
¾ cup water
½ cup less-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons sake
1 to 2 tablespoons mirin
1 to 2 tablespoons crushed bonito flakes (optional)
2 boneless chicken thighs (about 12 ounces; trimmed of fat and diced)
1 carrot (diced or cut into matchsticks; about 1/2 cup)
¼ cup roughly chopped oyster mushrooms
½ (3 1/2- to 4-ounce) pack beech mushrooms (cut in half crosswise)

To Serve (Optional):

Mitsuba leaves (wild parsley)
Toasted sesame seeds (try wasabi sesame seeds)
Sliced scallions
Sliced or diced pickled vegetables (such as plums, radishes, or cucumbers)

Instructions

Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with hot water. Let it sit for at least 2 hours and up to 12. Place the hijiki in a small bowl and cover with hot water. Let sit for 1 hour.
Rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer until the water runs almost clear. Place the rice in a saucepan with a lid. Add the water, broth, salt, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and bonito flakes. Let soak for 20 to 30 minutes.
Add the hijiki and any remaining soaking liquid to the pot (there should be about 1 to 2 tablespoons of liquid). Remove the soaked shiitake mushrooms from the liquid and slice them into a few pieces each. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the shiitake soaking liquid into the measuring cup, making best efforts to leave any bits of solids behind. The liquid should cover the rice by about 1/2 inch (see Note). Add the rehydrated sliced shiitakes, chicken, carrots, and oyster mushrooms. Separate the beech mushrooms a bit, and lay them on top.
Bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat. Once it’s simmering, cover the pot, and continue to simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, adjusting the heat so it stays at a simmer but not a boil. Lower the heat if the liquid starts to bubble too vigorously. After 15 minutes, remove from the heat, and let sit for 10 minutes without opening the lid. Lift the lid and fluff the rice, combining the ingredients evenly into the rice. Cover the pot again, and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice once more time.
Serve in bowls, sprinkled with the scallions, sesame seeds, and mitsuba leaves if using, and serve hot.

Notes

For the rice, you are looking for a total of 1 1/2 to 1 2/3 cups of cooking liquid. Risa says to make sure the liquid is “one knuckle’s height” above the top of the rice. I’m going with more concrete measurements because I did not grow up making this my whole life and because I think we all have different impressions of where our knuckles begin and end.

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