The Japanese Way to Make Rice Bowls 10x Better
- Ochazuke is a Japanese rice bowl dish made by pouring hot green tea over cooked rice with various toppings like salmon, nori, sesame seeds, and green onions.
As a home cook who likes minimalism (aka: low effort and very little cleanup) my love runs deep for recipes that use five ingredients or less. And when I visited Tokyo last year the best bites I had followed that formula: steamy rice with eggs and soy sauce, soba noodles in cold broth , fluffy Shokupan milk bread toasted with a slab of butter on it or made into a sandwich filled with fresh whipped cream and sliced fruit, grilled cod fish slicked with umami barbecue sauce.
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When I got home, I was hoping to recreate some of this simple deliciousness and happened upon a great idea via one of my favorite bloggers, The Subversive Table. Their TikTok post turned me onto a Japanese dish that you can make with two basic ingredients: rice and tea. Read on to learn all about ochazuke, the Japanese art of pouring tea over rice.
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What is Ochazuke?
Ochazuke, a Japanese rice bowl dish made by pouring hot green tea over cooked rice with a handful of toppings is a masterclass in simple cooking. The word "ocha" means green tea and "zuke" means submerged. (If you aren't a fan green tea , you can use any hot tea that could pair well with the contents of your rice bowl.) Common toppings used for ochazuke in Japan include cooked salmon, nori (roasted seaweed), sesame seeds and sliced green onions. Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums) are also sometimes used as an ochazuke topping.
Pouring hot tea over rice is great with fresh rice, but is also a clever and delicious way to turn day-old rice and leftovers into a newfangled dish. There's no need to reheat the rice beforehand because the boiling hot tea will do that.
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Best Types of Tea for Ochazuke
Any type of good-quality green tea is great for making ochazuke. Tea bags are probably the most convenient but don't hesitate to use what you've got (even if it's not green tea). Here are a few Japanese varieties of green tea you may want to consider when you're making ochazuke at home.
Sencha: a light and grassy green tea that enhances the savory flavors of the rice bowl.
Genmaicha: a blend of green tea and roasted rice that complements the rice dish's earthy base.
Hojicha:a roasted green tea with nutty, smoky notes that pair well with richer toppings.
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How to Make Ochazuke at Home
Brew your tea. Prep your rice bowl. Pour tea to cover the rice halfway. Taste your ochazuke, then season with soy sauce according to your needs and dig in. It's really that simple.
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