Ochazuke

In its simplest form, ochazuke is literally green tea over rice. Eaten hot (or cold, usually during the summer) at the end of a meal or as a snack, it is the essence of Japanese comfort food. But the light and subtly flavored dish is also wonderful, and more filling, when topped with other savory ingredients. Perhaps the most common choices are salted salmon or pickled plums, crunchy puffed rice balls, toasted sesame seeds and shredded nori seaweed. But there are lots of other popular options, too, such as grilled chicken, salmon roe, hard- or soft-boiled eggs, wakame, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), furikake, pickled ginger, chopped scallions, mitsuba (similar to parsley) or shiso leaves. Mix and match them as you like—you really can’t go wrong. The same goes for the tea. Some people think the toasty notes of genmaicha pair best with salted salmon, while the more delicate sencha is a better match with pickled plums, but there are no rules. You can also substitute dashi for the tea or use instant ochazuke packets (just place the mixture in the bowl with rice and add hot water); both lend more flavor, but I prefer the classic green tea version. One more thing. In Japan, ochazuke is generally made with leftovers: the last scoop of rice, a piece of salmon from dinner earlier in the week, etc., so don’t feel like you need to cook in order to pull this off. First, look in your fridge and try to use what you have. Here, we include a recipe for shiozake (salted salmon), which is a staple of the traditional Japanese breakfast and is commonly used in bento boxes, onigiri (rice balls) and ochazuke, so you can save your leftovers for another meal.