Ochazuke with Sencha Ariake

Serves 4 Dish

easy
45 min
10 min

Ochazuke (from ocha, meaning "tea" and zuke, meaning "to submerge") means "to clean one's bowl" in Japanese. It also refers to the traditional custom of finishing a meal by pouring infused tea over leftover rice.
This simple recipe is very popular in Japan, and can be used to bring out the vegetal and very mildly salty taste of Sencha Ariake.

Ingredients

12 g Organic Sencha Ariake
60 cl filtered water
200 g short grain rice
Seasonal vegetables
Dried nori seaweed
Sesame seeds
Salt
Pepper

Instructions

Cover the rice with water in a salad bowl. Mix together by hand, then drain the water. Repeat this step two or three times to ensure the rice is properly rinsed.
Drain and rinse the rice again while stirring the water. Repeat this step until the water is clear, with no excess rice starch remaining. Drain. Leave to stand for around 30 minutes.
Cook the rice. Serve the rice in four soup plates.
Add your choice of cooked and/or raw vegetable, the nori seaweed sheets and the sesame seeds. Season to taste.
Infuse the Sencha Ariake for 2 minutes in filtered water at 75°C.
Pour the infused tea onto the rice.
Serve and enjoy immediately with a cup of Sencha Ariake.

Tasting suggestion:

You can garnish your rice with diced grilled fish, fish eggs or some umeboshi (salted plums), bring out the taste of tsukemono (Japanese preserved vegetables) and add horseradish or wasabi.