JAVALAND: Japanese Rice with Chicken and Vegetables Recipe

Rice with Chicken and Vegetables.
Ingredients: 3 cups rice about 2 cups water 1 leaf of konbu kelp (5cm cut) 150g chicken breast 1/3 carrot stick 1/2 whole burdock (gobo) 4 dried shiitake mushrooms 1/3 devil's tongue or konyaku (sold in the block) 1/2 block abura-age (deep fried tofu) 5 to 6 stalks mitsuba (trefoil) for garnish 1 Tbsp sake 1 Tbsp soy sauce Liquid Mixture A 2 Tbsp soy sauce 2 Tbsp sake 2 Tbsp mirin (a sweetened Japanese wine) 1/4 tsp saltte (nerigarashi) as needed
Directions: 1. Wash the rice and let drain in a strainer. Transfer rice to a rice cooker and add 2 cups water and konbu kelp. Soak from 30 minutes to 1 hour. Cut ingredients into uniform sizes. Cut chicken into 2cm long pieces. Pour 1 tablespoon of sake and 1 tablespoon soy sauce over the chicken and let marinate for about 10 minutes.
2. Julienne carrot into 2cm long pieces, and cut burdock into shavings after peeling. Then, immerse burdock in water to remove harsh natural chemicals. Re-hydrate dried shiitake in 1 cup of water, remove the stems and cut caps into thin strips.
3. Keep the water used to re-hydrate the mushrooms and set aside. Cut konnyaku into 2cm long elongated cubes and blanch briefly in boiling water. Boil the abura-age as well, removing the oil from the water. Transfer to a strainer. Once cool, carefully wring the excess water out with your hands. Cut abura-age into 2cm long pieces to match the vegetable julienne sizes.
4. Remove the konbu, left in the rice cooker. Add the shiitake water to the rice cooker along with the soy sauce, mirin and sake from Liquid Mixture A above (add more water as needed - the total liquid should amount to three cups, as does the rice).
5. Place all of the cut and dressed ingredients on top of the rice. Turn on the rice cooker (a pot will do for those without a rice cooker - cook rice as you would normally). When finished cooking, steam for about 10 minutes. Mix the ingredients into the rice evenly. Garnish with raw trefoil (mitsuba) and serve.
Important!! 1. For best results in texture and flavor, the trick is in the sake used to marinate of the chicken, and to make sure all the ingredients are cut the same size. Marinating the chicken takes away the meaty odor, and same-size ingredients make for the best texture. 2. Adjusting to get just the right amount of liquid (water, sake, shiitake water, and mirin, all together) to complement the exact ratio of dry rice in the rice cooker (both dry rice and liquid ingredients should equal 3 cups each for a total of six cups in the cooker before cooking).
Japanese Liquid Measures: 1 cup = 200ml = 6.76 fl oz 1 tablespoon = 15ml = 0.5 fl oz 1 teaspoon = 5ml = 0.16 fl oz