User:Shy63/Takikomigohan

Takenoko gohan (筍御飯), one of the takikomi gohan (炊き込み御飯).

Takikomi gohan (炊き込みご飯, 炊き込み御飯) is a Japanese rice dish seasoned with dashi and soy sauce along with mushrooms, vegetables especially root vegetables, meat, or fish. The ingredients of takikomi gohan are cooked with the rice; in a similar preparation, maze gohan (混ぜ御飯), flavorful ingredients are mixed into cooked rice. This dish is consumed by people in Japan around fall season since a lot of root vegetables and mushrooms could be harvested during the season in Japan. Ingredients will be varied based on seasonal vegetables and fish. Since this dish covers a lot of nutritious facts, and substitutes the partial amount of rice from a serving size with vegetables and proteins, thus some Japanese people eat it as a diet method. One of the reasons for this dish to be popular in Japan is that it is easy to make and does not require a lot of equipment to cook.

History

Takikomi Gohan was created during the Nara period. During this period, Japanese people had a hard time harvesting rice to meet their demands. Thus, they mixed rice with millet to increase the amount of portions. It is called Awameshi. At the same time, people created a root of Takikomi Gohan. It is called Katemeshi. They mixed rice with millets and a variety of vegetables including weeds, yam and Japanese radish in order to survive a shortage of rice. This dish used to be a survival meal during World War two. During the Muromachi period, Katemeshi became popular in Japan, thus Japanese people made a similar dish to Katemeshi. It is called Kawarimeshi. Kawarimeshi has the same idea to make this dish. However, the difference between them is that Kawarimeshi use quality ingredients such as barley, beans, and vegetables. People became creative and made a variety of dishes that were based on Kawarimeshi, and they used seasonal ingredients to maximize the umami taste in the dish.

Variations

• Tai-meshi (鯛飯): rice with whole sea bream
• Ayu-meshi (鮎飯): rice with whole sweetfish
• Matsutake gohan (松茸御飯): rice with matsutake mushrooms
• Kani-meshi (蟹飯): rice with crab
• Gomoku meshi (五目飯 or gomoku gohan 五目御飯): loosely translated, "five ingredients mixed rice," whose contents often revolve around seasonal availability and can include matsutake or shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, burdock root, fresh soybeans, chestnuts, chicken, firm white-fleshed fish, or oysters. In the Osaka dialect, this dish is called kayaku gohan (加薬御飯).

See also

• Arroz con Pollo, Arroz con gandules, Platillo Moros y Cristianos, Gallo Pinto, Pabellón criollo, Rice and beans (Latin America)
• Biryani (South Asia)
• Fried Rice (East Asia)
• Jambalaya (Louisiana)
• Jollof rice (West Africa)
• Hoppin' John (Southern United States)
• Kabsa (Saudi Arabia)
• Kedgeree (United Kingdom)
• Kushari (Egypt)
• Nasi Goreng (Indonesia)
• Paella (Spain)
• Pilaf/Pulao (Greece, Balkans, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, South Asia)
• Rice and peas (Caribbean)
• Risotto (Italy)
• Spanish rice (Mexico)

References

• Hosking, Richard. A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients & Culture. Tuttle Publishing, 1997, p. 46
• Tsuji, Shizuo. Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art. Kodansha International. 2006, p. 278.
• Food ki. Food ki: Takikomi gohan. Heiwado.
• Kiichiro. Okome to gohan no zakugaku . Shokuryou chou Zenkoku beikoku kyoukai. part 5

Category:Japanese cuisine Category:Japanese rice dishes