This is a very easy Asian dish from the book Everyday Harumi by Harumi Kurihara. We tend to make it a lot, as it is both simple and delicious. You can use any ground meat for this dish, though chicken is probably our favorite. We also prefer to use long-grain jasmine wild rice, but you could use another rice if you want (though I highly recommend jasmine rice, because the smell, texture, and flavor will make you forget you ever ate anything else). Presentation is a key factor in this dish as well; if you have a bento box this is the perfect dish for it.

The first thing you want to do is thoroughly wash your rice. I recommend double layering cheese cloth in a colander, and straining water through the rice. Once the water is mostly clear coming through the rice, let it sit out for 10-15 minutes. This process will remove excess starch, and crack the rice, making it light and fluffy later.

Once the rice is done, you can start on your meat. In a large pot or a very large skillet (we use a stir-fry skillet), put in a cup and a third of vegetable broth (the actual recipe calls for dashi stock, which we do not enjoy, but feel free to use), 2 tables of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sake, and 1 tablespoon mirin (which is a very potent rice wine, which can usually be found in your Eastern/Asian/World section of your supermarket). Let that come to a boil, and add your meat and let it cook for just a few minutes. Strain the chicken out and put it in a separate, regular sized pan or skillet.

Put the rice in the liquid mixture, cover with a lid, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Then take off heat and let sit for 10 more minutes. If you leave the pot on the burner (with the heat off) the bottom of the rice will get very crispy, without burning, which is actually quite delicious. This may be a side effect of the shape of our stir fry pot, so I cannot guarantee yummy bottom rice from every pan.

This is the rice just about ready to be eaten

Once the rice is cooking, into the meat, add 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of mirin, 2 tablespoons of sugar (super fine if you have it), and 1 tablespoon sake to the meat. Cook on medium-high until all the liquid is absorbed.

before soaking everything up

Finally done!

After the rice is finished, lightly cook green beans, then cut them diagonally, because it is pretty. We use the SteamFresh beans, and just cook them normally and then cut them. Peas are also good.

Finally, beat 4 eggs together in a bowl. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of sake. Cook into a saucepan on medium heat. Once the eggs start to lose their transparency, turn the heat down to low, and stir continuously. If you use four chopsticks held together to stir this, it makes the eggs get very light and fluffy and delicious. The general point is to make fluffy scrambled eggs.

Eggs pre-cook

To plate, start with the rice. Then, add the chicken, eggs, and beans on top, in three separate portions, completely covering the rice. The three toppings should not be mixed together at all. Presentation is important in this dish.

They are falling off the side a little, but you get the idea

And a version with peas, also nom

That’s it! It takes about half an hour to complete, as you are mostly waiting on the rice to cook. Enjoy!

–A&C