Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Mixed Rice with Chicken and Burdock)
Short-grain rice cooked directly in savory dashi, soy sauce and mirin with tender chicken thigh, earthy burdock, sweet carrot and shiitake. Everything goes into the rice cooker together, so the grains soak up the flavor as they steam.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 50 min
- Wait
- 50 min
- Total
- 2 hr 5 min
- Makes
- About 6 cups (4 main-course or 6 side servings)
Steps
Before you start
- Use a rice cooker with a 5½-cup (1 L) or larger capacity. This recipe makes 3 rice-cooker cups (450 g) of rice, so check your cooker's maximum for white rice.
- Have 1¾ cups (430 ml) of dashi ready and cooled to room temperature. Hot liquid starts cooking the rice unevenly. Instant dashi powder dissolved in water works.
- Plan on 30 minutes of soaking time for the rice. Do the vegetable prep while it soaks.
- Total time is about 2 hours, including soaking, draining, cooking and resting.
Rinse and soak rice
- Put the rice in a medium bowl and cover with cold water.
- Swirl with your hand, then pour off the cloudy water.
- Repeat 3 to 4 times, until the water is only faintly cloudy.
- Cover the rice with fresh cold water and let it soak for 30 minutes.
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Ready when: Grains look opaque white all the way through
Tip: Do not skip the soak. Unsoaked rice cooks up with hard centers in a seasoned liquid.
Prep burdock
- While the rice soaks, scrub the burdock under running water with a brush or the back of a knife, since much of the flavor is in the skin.
- Shave it into thin slivers, turning it as you go, as if sharpening a pencil.
- Drop the slivers into a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes, then drain well.
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Ready when: Soaking water turns light brown; slivers are thin and flexible
Tip: Soaking removes bitterness and stops the burdock from browning.
Prep other vegetables
- Peel the carrot and cut it into matchsticks about 1½ inches (4 cm) long.
- Cut off the shiitake stems and slice the caps thinly.
- If using aburaage, pour boiling water over it, pat dry, then halve it lengthwise and slice thinly.
- Slice the scallions and set them aside for serving.
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Ready when: Pieces are similar in size so they cook evenly
Tip: Keep the carrot and burdock about the same thickness so they soften at the same rate.
Season the chicken
- Cut the chicken thighs into ½-inch (1.5 cm) pieces.
- Toss them in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of the sake and 1 teaspoon of the soy sauce.
- Set aside while you finish the next steps.
- This is part of your total sake and soy sauce, so you will use only the remainder in the cooking liquid.
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Ready when: Chicken pieces are evenly coated and glossy
Tip: Don't add the full amounts here. You need 2 tbsp + 2 tsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp sake left for the liquid.
Drain the rice
- Pour the soaked rice into a fine-mesh sieve and let it drain for 10 minutes, shaking once or twice.
- Then tip it into the rice cooker pot and spread it into an even layer.
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Ready when: No water drips from the sieve; grains look dry on the surface
Mix the cooking liquid
- In a measuring cup, stir the dashi with the remaining soy sauce (2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons), the mirin, the remaining 1 tablespoon sake, and the salt.
- Pour it over the rice in the cooker pot and gently level the rice with your fingers.
- The rice should be just covered, and the liquid should reach about the 3-cup line on your pot.
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Ready when: Liquid level matches the 3-cup mark with the rice flat and submerged
Tip: If the liquid is above the 3-cup line, spoon some out. Too much liquid makes soggy rice.
Layer the toppings
- Scatter the burdock, carrot, shiitake, aburaage (if using) and the marinated chicken over the surface of the rice in an even layer.
- Do not stir.
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Ready when: Toppings sit on top of the rice, with the rice still submerged underneath
Tip: Stirring lets the toppings sink and can make the rice cook unevenly or scorch.
Cook in rice cooker
- Close the lid and start the standard white rice or mixed rice (takikomi) setting.
- Cooking takes about 45 to 50 minutes.
- Don't open the lid while it cooks.
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Ready when: Cooker signals that the cycle is complete
Tip: Some cookers have a quick mode that skips the final steaming. Use the regular cycle for the best texture.
Rest and fluffOven 165°F / 75°C
- Leave the lid closed for 10 minutes after the cooker finishes.
- Then open it and check that a piece of chicken registers 165°F (74°C) on an instant-read thermometer.
- Use a wet rice paddle to cut through the rice and fold it gently from the bottom up so the toppings spread through it.
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Ready when: Chicken reaches 165°F (74°C); rice is tender and separate, with a light golden-brown tint
Tip: Wetting the paddle keeps the rice from sticking and helps you fold without mashing the grains.
Serve
- Spoon the rice into small bowls.
- Top with sliced scallions and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, if using.
- Serve warm.
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Ready when: Rice is steaming hot and evenly flecked with vegetables
Good to know
Tips
- Measure the liquid carefully. Seasoned rice has no room for extra water, because the toppings release a bit of their own moisture.
- Leave the toppings on top without stirring, so the rice cooks evenly and the bottom doesn't scorch.
- For a toasty bottom crust (okoge), leave the rice on the keep-warm setting for an extra 10 minutes before fluffing, then scrape up the crust.
- Cut the chicken into small pieces so it cooks through completely by the time the rice is done.
Make ahead
Rinse and soak the rice, and cut the vegetables, up to 8 hours ahead. Keep the cut burdock in water, and keep the vegetables and the marinated chicken in separate covered containers in the fridge. Drain the rice and assemble just before cooking.
Storage & reheating
Room temperature: up to 2 hours. Refrigerator: store in an airtight container up to 3 days. Freezer: portion into airtight containers and freeze up to 1 month. Reheat chilled or thawed rice in the microwave, covered, with 1 tablespoon of water per portion, for 1½ to 2 minutes until steaming hot all the way through (165°F/74°C).
Substitutions
- burdock root (gobo) → Parsnip or extra carrot plus a little celery. The flavor is milder and less earthy, but the texture is similar. Skip the water soak.
- dashi → 1¾ cups (430 ml) water mixed with ½ tsp instant dashi powder. Dissolve the powder fully. Reduce the added salt slightly if your powder is salty.
- boneless, skinless chicken thighs → Chicken breast. Breast cooks faster and can dry out, so cut it into slightly larger ¾-inch (2 cm) pieces. Still check for 165°F (74°C).
- sake → Water plus ½ tsp rice vinegar. Use the same total volume; the flavor will be a little less rounded.