Ochazuke - a favourite comfort food on cold nights.

Ochazuke - you cannot get more of Japan in one single meal! Consisting of green tea poured over white rice, it is either a simple, fulfilling dinner or a quick snack made from leftovers. It's so easy to make, you don't even need a recipe!

ochazuke - green tea poured over rice

And that is what I created for a quick dinner. I used some tuna and broiled bamboo shoots for some added crunch.

Recipe (serving per person):

Scallions, ginger, nori, wasabi and pickles

1 cup cooked rice (warm)

1 cup warm green tea

(I used some local green tea).

Toppings:
Vegetable pickles 

(I substituted popular umeboshi with regular western pickles or gherkins).

A little bit of wasabi.

A little bit of thinly sliced ginger.

Thinly sliced scallions.

Some nori (dried seaweed strips).

Pieces of cooked fish (tuna or salmon), lightly seasoned.

Bonito flakes, also known as katsuobushi (かつおぶし).

How to prepare:
Add toppings on top of warm rice. Pour warm green tea over the rice and enjoy!

As simple as that.

For our dinner I used some grilled fresh tuna because we didn't have any salmon. It worked just as well. 

Ochazuke is comfort food so anything goes, really. I still prefer to have a balance between tastes. So I usually opt for something sweet (sweet pickles), sour (ginger), bitter (scallions), salty (nori) and savoury (fish)- a fine balance which is practiced in Japanese cuisine. 

Have you ever tried Ochazuke? Do you like rice as a comfort food?

Pickles, ginger and wasabi

I know I definitely can't get enough of Japan's unique rice! Especially when cozying up during a cold winter's night with some comfort food.

Tuna steak, cut into pieces (I prefer this cut to be done, it's not really prime sashimi cut, so it sometimes has some sinews running though it, which makes it too chewy to eat when slightly medium...)