Satsumaimo Gohan (Japanese Sweet Potato Rice)
Savory Japanese autumn rice cooked together with cubed sweet potato, sake and mirin, then finished with black sesame salt. Made in a heavy pot, no rice cooker required.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
For the Rice
- 2 rice cups Japanese short grain white rice 360 ml, about 1 ⅔ US cups
- 1 medium satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato) about 10 oz, scrubbed, skin on, cut into ¾ inch cubes
- 1 ¾ cups water or kombu dashi total liquid, including the sake and mirin below
- 2 tablespoon sake
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 piece kombu 2 inch square, optional
For the Gomashio
- 2 teaspoon black sesame seeds toasted
- ½ teaspoon flaky salt or kosher salt
Instructions
Prepare the Rice and Sweet Potato
- Rinse the rice in cold water 3 or 4 times, swirling and pouring off the cloudy water, until it runs mostly clear. Soak the rinsed rice in fresh cold water for 30 minutes, then drain well in a sieve.
- Scrub the satsumaimo, leave the skin on, and cut it into ¾ inch cubes. Soak the cubes in lightly salted cold water for 10 to 15 minutes to stop them browning and to remove surface starch. Drain and pat dry.
Cook the Rice
- Put the drained rice in a 3 to 4 quart heavy pot. Add the sake, mirin and salt, then add enough water or kombu dashi to reach 1 ¾ cups of total liquid, counting the sake and mirin as part of that total. Stir once to dissolve the salt and level the rice.
- Lay the sweet potato cubes evenly over the surface of the rice. Do not stir them in. Tuck in the kombu if using.
- Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes. As soon as it boils, reduce to low and cook for 13 minutes with the lid on. Do not lift the lid.
- Turn off the heat and let the pot rest, still covered, for 10 minutes.
Finish and Serve
- Toast the black sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 minutes, shaking constantly. Grind lightly with the flaky salt in a mortar, cracking about half the seeds.
- Remove the kombu, then fold the rice with a rice paddle using a cutting motion so the grains separate and the sweet potato cubes stay whole. Serve in bowls sprinkled with the gomashio.
Notes
- Rice cups are 180 ml: A Japanese rice cooker cup is not a US cup. Two rice cups is about 1 ⅔ US cups.
- Count the sake and mirin inside the liquid: Total liquid is 1 ¾ cups, and the sake and mirin come out of that total, not on top of it.
- Do not stir before cooking: The cubes steam on top of the rice. Stirring them in makes them break down into the grains.
- Substitute: Stokes Purple sweet potato is the closest substitute. An ordinary orange sweet potato works but is wetter and sweeter, so the cubes soften more and the dish tilts sweet.
- Storage: Freeze warm portions wrapped tightly for up to 1 month, which holds the texture far better than refrigerating.