Chicken and burdock rice with sour plums and dashi broth (tori gobo meshi to ume chazuke)

This nourishing Japanese dish comes from Adelaide-based chef Kenji Ito. As suggested in its name, the chicken is flavoured with burdock root. Umeboshi (sour plums) and a homemade dashi broth.

• serves

  8

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 600 g (3 cups) short-grain rice
• 170 g (2 cups) frozen shredded burdock root, thawed, roughly chopped
• 3 chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, cut into 1 cm pieces
• 3 cm piece ginger, cut into julienne
• 700 ml dashi stock (see Note)
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp salt-reduced soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking sake
• 5 sour plums (umeboshi) (see Note), seeded, chopped
• thinly shredded snow peas and nori (roasted seaweed), to serve

Dashi broth (cha-zuke)

• 500 ml (2 cups) dashi stock (see Note)
• 1 tbsp cooking sake
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 100 ml Japanese soy sauce

Drink Coedo Beniaka Premium Lager, Japan ($7.50 per bottle).

Standing time 5 minutes

Instructions

Wash rice, then drain and place in a large saucepan. Place burdock root on top, then add chicken and ginger. Cover with dashi stock, mirin, soy sauce and sake. Cook over high heat, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 12 minutes or until steam holes appear at the top of the rice. Alternatively, use a rice cooker.

Remove from heat and stand, covered, for 5 minutes, then stir in the sour plums.

To make dashi broth, place all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then remove from heat. Set aside.

Spoon chicken and burdock rice, and sour plums among bowls, scatter with snow peas and nori, then spoon over the warm dashi broth to serve.

Note

• Burdock root and sour plums are available from Japanese food shops. Burdock root is available shredded and frozen.

• Make 1.2 litres dashi stock for the rice and the dashi broth by dissolving 5 tsp (25 g) dashi granules in 1.2 litres water.

As seen in Feast magazine, Mar 2012, Issue 7. For more recipes and articles, pick up a copy of this month's Feast magazine or check out our great subscriptions offers here.

Photography by Scout Edwards (Whitewall).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.