Bottarga and Matsutake Rice

Karasumi Matsutake Gohan

When I'm lucky to have these special ingredients, I love making this dish. You can substitute matsutake mushroom with a different kind of mushroom when matsutake is out of season. (The dish shown in this photo is made in 1 rice-cup size Kamado-san.)

Equipment

Double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san" (3 rice-cup size)

Servings

4 - 5

Ingredients

• 2 rice-cups (360 ml) short grain rice, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/3 cups (320 ml) dashi stock or water
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 1 tablespoon usukuchi shoyu (light-color soy sauce; can be substituted with regular soy sauce)
• 2 - 3 oz (60 - 90 g) matsutake mushrooms (can be substituted with mistake or shimeji mushrooms), bottom end trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 small to medium piece bottarga (cured mullet roe, can be substituted with powdered bottarga), thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• some minced chives for garnish

Procedure

1. Combine the rice, dash stock, sake, and usukuchi shoyu in "Kamado-san". Let the rice soak for 20 - 30 minutes.
2. Spread the matsutake mushrooms over the rice.
3. Cover "Kamado-san" with both lids and cook over medium-high heat for 13 - 15 minutes, or until 2 - 3 minutes after the steam starts puffing out of the top lid.
4. Turn off the heat and let Kamado-san rest (with both lids on) for 20 minutes.
5. Uncover and spread the sliced bottarga over the rice. Add the butter and fluff gently. Garnish with the minced chives and enjoy.