Japanese · Breakfast

Ochazuke

Hot green tea over rice, nori, sesame and scallion.

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Ochazuke, plated, photographed from above.
Prep
4 min
Cook
6 min
Makes
2 servings
Skill
Beginner
Heat
Mild, adjustable
Vegan Vegetarian Halal Contains sesame Contains soy
Maui says

This is what rice from last night is for. Ochazuke exists precisely because someone had cold rice and wanted something warm - the hot tea brings it back better than a microwave does, and the whole dish is under 300 calories.

Ingredients

Everything below makes 2 servings.

  • 2 cupscooked short-grain ricewarm, or cold from the fridge - the hot tea reheats it
  • 1 piecekombua 3-inch square
  • 2 tspsencha green tealoose leaf, or 2 teabags
  • 2 tspsoy sauce
  • 1 sheettoasted noricut or torn into thin strips
  • 2 tsptoasted sesame seeds
  • 2 stalksgreen onionsliced thin on an angle
  • ¼ tspkosher salt

In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.

Nutrition

Per serving, as written.

  • 280calories
  • 7gprotein
  • 55gcarbs
  • 3gfat

Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.

Instructions

Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.

Before you start
  1. Cut the nori into thin strips with scissors - much easier than tearing, and it stays in neat ribbons rather than shattering.
  2. Slice the green onion thin on a steep angle and drop it into cold water for a minute, then drain. It takes the raw bite off and makes it curl.
1

Make the kombu broth

Put the kombu in a small saucepan with 2 cups of cold water and bring it slowly toward a simmer over medium-low heat. Pull the kombu out just BEFORE the water boils - boiled kombu turns the broth bitter and slightly slimy. Stir in the soy sauce and kosher salt.

6 min · hands on
2

Brew the tea

Meanwhile, brew the green tea in 1 cup of water at about 175°F - not boiling. Boiling water scalds green tea and turns it harshly bitter; if your kettle has no setting, boil it and wait two minutes. Steep 1 min, then strain.

1 min · hands on
3

Bowl and pour

Put the rice into two bowls. Combine the hot broth and the tea and pour it over the rice until it comes about halfway up - this is soup around rice, not rice in soup.

1 min · hands on
4

Top and eat

Scatter the toasted nori strips, toasted sesame seeds and green onion over the top and eat straight away, while the nori still has some snap to it.

1 min · hands on

Make it yours

Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.

Swap With flaked grilled salmon

The traditional version - salt a fillet, grill, flake over the rice. Adds about 8 minutes.

Swap With silken tofu spooned in

Warm cubes sit in the broth and stay vegan; adds a soy allergen already present. Adds about 2 minutes.

Instead of eaten alone With pickled vegetables on the side

Any Japanese tsukemono - the sourness is the traditional counterpoint. Adds about 1 minutes.

Gluten free Tamari for soy sauce

Most soy sauce contains wheat; tamari is the gluten-free equivalent.

What keeps

Poured and left, the rice swells and the nori dissolves into slime within about ten minutes. Assemble at the table.

Cooked rice from the fridge is the ingredient worth having ready - this is a classic use for last night's.

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