Hi, I’m Francis,
the host of this show "Cooking with Dog."
Rinse the rice beforehand and place it into a rice cooker.
Add the kombu and bonito dashi stock
but use slightly less liquid compared to regular steamed rice.
Distribute the rice evenly.
Next, cut the chicken breast into 1cm or half inch cubes.
Place the chicken pieces into a bowl.
Add the sake,
salt,
soy sauce
and mirin,
and lightly stir.
And now, let’s cut the vegetables.
Cut about a 3cm or 1 inch thick piece of the carrot.
Slice it into 5mm or quarter inch slices
and chop it into fine strips.
Then, add the carrot to the bowl.
Make numerous shallow cuts
around the gobo, burdock root lengthwise.
Then, shave the gobo with a knife while gradually rotating it.
This cutting method, known as Sasagaki
will help to make the firm gobo root easier to eat.
Lightly rinse to keep it from discoloring,
squeeze out the water
and place it into the bowl.
Detach the stem of the shiitake mushroom
and remove the bottom end.
Slice the cap into 6mm or quarter inch slices.
Thinly slice the stem using diagonal cuts.
Tear apart the maitake mushrooms
and trim into bite-size pieces with a knife.
With a paper towel,
remove the excess oil from the aburaage, thin deep-fried tofu.
Cut it in half and slice it into 6mm or quarter inch strips.
Add the shredded ginger root to the bowl.
Toss to coat all the ingredients with the seasonings.
Then, let it marinate for 10 minutes.
Now, let’s cook the takikomi gohan.
Place the ingredients and marinade into the rice cooker.
Gently distribute them on top of the rice.
Cover and turn on the rice cooker.
Avoid mixing the rice and the ingredients before cooking
otherwise the dish will not cook evenly.
Now, the takikomi gohan is ready to serve.
Lightly mix with a rice paddle.
Place the takikomi gohan into a rice bowl.
Finally, top with the chopped mitsuba parsley.
Thoroughly marinate the ingredients before cooking
so that the dish is more palatable.
Gobo is one of the commonly eaten vegetables in Japan.
You can leave it out if it’s not available in your area.
Adding the sake will help to bring out the subtlties of the vegetables
and reduce the strong aroma of the chicken.
Good luck in the kitchen.