Smoked Mackerel & Ginger Japanese Pilaf

Name: Smoked Mackerel & Ginger Japanese Pilaf (鯖の炊き込みご飯)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves: 4
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 290 ml (10 fl oz) filtered water; 50 g (1¾ oz) fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks; 300 g (10½ oz) Japanese rice; 2 tablespoons sake; 1½ tablespoons soy sauce; 1½ tablespoons mirin; 2 fillets of smoked mackerel, about 150 g (5½ oz), skin removed and flaked; 2 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced on the diagonal and kept in cold water

鯖の炊き込みご飯

Preparation info

Serves:
4

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
30 min

Appears in

Japanese Food Made Easy

By Aya Nishimura

Published 2020

About

We have a dried fish called himono in Japan, which is salted and traditionally dried in the sun. It has a concentrated umami flavour due to the drying process. Smoked mackerel is a good substitute, with some similarity in flavour and texture to himono.

Ingredients

Fresh

290 ml (10 fl oz) filtered water
50 g (1¾

Asia
Japan
Fish course
Pescatarian

Method

Place the rice in a fine strainer and set it over a bowl of water. Gently stir and wash the rice with your hands. As soon as the water turns milky, lift the strainer and drain the water. Repeat this process three to four times until the water is less milky. Drain the rice and leave it to stand for 30 minutes.

Place the drained rice in a heavy-based saucepan (ideally, use a cast-iron pan