Japanese dish Nishoku Gohan ("two colored rice")

When it comes to Japanese food, many non-Japanese tend to think that Sushi is the only Japanese food and it’s hard to cook in their home country without having the right ingredients. To break this image, I will be introducing some Easy, Quick, and Tasty Japanese foods. Please note that they may not be authentic Japanese, but they are definitely popular among all Japanese across all age groups!

Today, I am introducing you to Donburi Menu called ‘Nishoku Gohan’. Donburi is a big rice bowl and Donburi menu refers to a dish that has a topping over a bed of rice in the big bowl. Nishoku-Gohan literary means ‘two-colored rice’ referring to rice with two colored toppings, which is one of the easiest dishes to cook and does not require different kinds of unusual Japanese ingredients. This is Todd’s and my ‘Comfort Food’.

Ingredients (for 2 people) Prep and cooking time: 15-20 minutes. Yes, it’s that fast!

2 cups of rice (Japanese, Thai, or California type of rice) and 2.4 cups of water

Nori-Seaweed (if available)

Meat topping

Minced meat (pork/chicken/beef- as you like) 200g

4 tablespoons of soy sauce

3 teaspoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of sliced ginger

If available, 1tablespoon of cooking sake (but not essential)

Tip: If the soy sauce is already sweet, you may want to put less sugar. Heinz soy sauce is usually already sweet enough. Kikkoman needs the sugar.

Egg topping

3 Large eggs

3 teaspoons of sugar

Pinch of salt

Rice: (if you have a rice cooker, skip this section but don’t forget to wash the rice!)

Wash rice about 5 times (or until the water is more or less clear). Add 2.4 cups of water (you need to cook rice with 20% more water). (Tip: It is suggested to soak the rice in water for 30 min to 1hr, but it’s not essential). Cook rice with a lid on a regular flame until it starts boiling. Turn down the flame slightly sliding the lid off a bit. Cook until the water evaporates (taste the rice to see if it is soft enough) turn off the stove and let it sit with the lid on for 5 min.

p.s. 2 cups of rice maybe too much for 2 portions of Donburi-menu, however, it is suggested to cook at least 2 cups of rice or else the rice will not turn out well. Save the extra for rice balls the next day (recipe coming soon!).

Preparing the meat

Meat topping

Put all the ingredients in a small pot, break up the meat while mixing, and cook until the meat is browned.

Egg topping

1. Put the cracked eggs, sugar, and salt in a bowl and beat them.
2. Cook them in a small pot. Please make sure that you keep mixing it really hard to make sure they become small crumbles. (Tip: use chop-sticks to help you to make the crumbles).

Scramble the eggs Japanese style, with chopsticks!

Serving

1. Put some rice in a bowl and flatten the top.
2. Put the meat and eggs on top of rice
3. If you like, put some flakes of seaweed (tear them into pieces) on the top

AND, Nishoku-gohan is ready!

Did you like this recipe? Leave a comment and let others know how it turned out.

Note: Some people call this dish Soboro Gohan (meaning “crumbles and  rice”). If you feel anxious that we are using a different (be equally popular) way of naming this dish you are at the wrong blog This is simple Japanese food, that tastes great with no room for pretentiousness.

May Japan Blog Matsuri, hosted by http://nihongoup.com