Zōsui

Rice rinsed and simmered in broth until it thickens, the pot's last course rather than a soup.

Fish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 500 g cooked rice, cold
• 900 ml dashi or leftover hotpot broth
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 4 spring onions, sliced
• 1 sheet nori, shredded

Method

1. RINSE THE COLD RICE BEFORE IT GOES IN, under the tap in a sieve until the water runs clear. That removes the loose surface starch. Unrinsed, the broth turns to glue within five minutes and you have porridge rather than rice in soup.
2. THIS IS THE POT'S LAST COURSE. It is made in the broth left after a shabu-shabu or a motsunabe, which has been concentrating all evening and is better than any stock you would make for it. Dashi is the fallback, not the first choice.
3. Taste that leftover broth before seasoning. It will already be salty and may need nothing at all.
4. Bring the broth to a simmer and season it to slightly less than you want -- the rice absorbs and concentrates it.
5. Rice in, stirred once, and simmered 5 to 7 minutes.
6. UNLIKE A KHAO TOM THE GRAINS ARE MEANT TO SOFTEN AND SWELL and the whole thing to thicken. It should be spoonable, not pourable.
7. Beat the eggs loosely, leaving streaks.
8. HEAT OFF, egg poured in a thin circle over the surface, lid on, 1 minute. Do not stir. It sets in soft sheets through the rice.
9. Stirred in on the heat it shreds into threads and clouds the whole pot.
10. Spring onion and nori over each bowl. Eat at once; it stiffens to a solid mass within ten minutes.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes