Meaty mushrooms cooked on top of fluffy Japanese rice, all simmered in a seasoned dashi stock. No rice cooker, no problem. This recipe has step by step stovetop instructions (with pictures) to help you cook this rice to perfection!
What is Japanese Mushroom Rice?
Japanese Mushroom Rice, or Kinoko Gohan in Japanese, is a variation of Takikomi Gohan which means steamed mixed rice. There are many different variations but the basic formula is rice, veggies, and protein all cooked in a flavourful broth.
I wrote this guide on Takikomi Gohan (because I love this method so much) where I do a bit of a deep dive into the dish, plus a guideline you can use to create your own recipes!
5 Tips for Making Japanese Mushroom Rice
- Rinse the rice – gently wash the rice until the water runs mostly clear, this is usually about 2-3 times. This removes dirt and excess starch.
- Soak the rice – this is essential when you’re cooking short grain rice. If you’re using a rice cooker then you probably won’t need to soak the rice as they usually have an in built soak time.
- Dry fry the mushrooms with salt –This step is optional but highly recommended. Dry frying the mushrooms intensifies their flavour and gives them a meaty texture.
- Mix the rice after cooking, not before – stirring everything together beforehand can lead to unevenly cooked rice
- Don’t take off the lid whilst cooking – it’s tempting to peek but it’s important to try keep the steam/heat in to maintain a good temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dashi is a Japanese soup stock made with katsuoboshi (dried bonito fish flakes), konbu (kelp seaweed) and water. It’s found in many Japanese dishes like Miso soup or Udon.
No problem! You could add a different kind of soup stock or use water.
For sure – swap the dashi out for kombu-dashi (seaweed stock) or use water.
Yes, or else it’s highly likely your rice will be crunchy, especially if you’re cooking it the stovetop. Rice cookers usually have a soak mode built into the timer so if you’re using one you probably won’t need to soak it.
Yes! This dish is incredibly easy to cook in a rice cooker. Follow the same instructions for the prep and for the cooking steps, let your rice cooker handle it.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups of Japanese rice
- approx 250g of mushrooms
- 1.25 cups of dashi stock
- approx 15 g grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of mirin
- 2 tablespoons of cooking sake
Step by Step Instructions for Japanese Mushroom Rice (with pictures)
How to cook Japanese Mushroom Rice.
- Prepare rice.
Measure out your rice, wash it and drain it 2-3 times until the water runs mostly clear. Then soak the rice for 30 minutes. Once the rice has finished soaking, drain well.
- Prepare the stock.
Combining the dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin and grated ginger.
- Prepare Mushrooms.
Optional, but highly recommended – dry fry the mushrooms on a high heat with a sprinkle of salt.
- Add to the pot.
Layer everything into the pot starting with rice, then stock and finally the mixed mushrooms. Do not mix together at this point.
- Bring to boil.
Bring to a boil on a high heat (uncovered) and when you start to see medium sized bubbles, move onto next step.
- Low heat.
Once the rice has started bubbling, cover with a glass lid and turn the heat down low. Don’t take off the lid during this time. Cook for approximately 15 minutes, or until there is no more water in the pan.
- Steam
Once there is no more water in the pan, switch off the heat and steam for 15 more minutes. Again, don’t take the lid off during this part.
- Sesame oil
Optional – drizzle on some sesame oil.
- Mix!
Mix together with a wooden spoon, serve and enjoy!
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I’m always interested to know how people get on with my recipes so all feedback is welcome. You can either leave a comment a bit further down the page or contact me directly and I’ll get back you as soon as possible!
Japanese Mushroom Rice (Kinoko Gohan)
Equipment
- 1 Medium sized non-stick pot with a lid (preferably a glass lid so you can see the rice)
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Japanese rice
- 1.25 cups dashi stock
- 250 g mushrooms (shiitake, beech and king oyster)
Stock
- 15 g grated ginger (add more or less depending on preference)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp cooking sake
Instructions
- If you are using a rice cooker, see notes section.
- Prepare the rice by washing it 2-3 times then soak it for 30 minutes. Prepare ingredients in the meantime.
- Combine all the stock ingredients together and set aside.
- Prepare the mushrooms. Optional but highly recommend – dry fry on a high heat with a sprinkle of salt until golden.
- Pour the stock over the rice and top it off with the mushrooms – don't mix everything together yet.
- Bring to a boil on a high heat (uncovered) and when it starts to boil, cover with a lid and turn the heat down very low. Cook for approximately 10-15 minutes, or until there is no more stock in the pan.
- Once the rice has soaked up all the stock, switch off the heat and let it steam (with lid on) for another 15 minutes.
- Once it's finished steaming, mix together, serve and enjoy!
