This Japanese corn rice takes a special place in our family because it is easily the tastiest and satisfying summertime dish. Studded with sweet corn and bursting with a rich taste of butter and umami soy sauce, it is far more exciting than the plain steamed rice.
The beauty lies on its simplicity and versatility—you can literally serve the corn rice with any Japanese meal or other Asian-theme cookout or even a western BBQ. We love serving it with grilled meat and veggies, and sometime we make onigiri rice balls with it and pack them up for a picnic.
When fresh corn on the cob show up in your local market, I hope you will set aside a few and make this recipe!
What is Japanese Corn Rice?
As the short-grain rice is cooked with other ingredients (sweet corn for this case), this recipe is considered a type of Takikomi Gohan (炊き込みご飯) or Japanese mixed rice. If you cook the corn separately and add to the cooked rice, then it’s called Maze Gohan (混ぜご飯).
Butter Shoyu Flavor
The seasoning cannot be any simpler—mainly salt and soy sauce to enhance the natural sweetness and flavor of corn. Once the rice is cooked, add butter to the hot steamy corn rice. The butter soy sauce (butter shoyu) will impart the most mouthwatering aroma, enough to wake up anyone’s appetite!
3 Flavor Options for This Recipe
After testing the recipe a few times, we as a family have a few suggestions.
Option 1: Salt + sake
If you want to skip the butter, I’d suggest leaving out the soy sauce completely. In our opinion, simple salt-flavored corn rice tastes much better without the soy sauce. Sake is added for the umami and natural sweetness.
Option 2: Butter + soy sauce (this recipe)
This is my personal preference—a moderate amount of butter and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. The overall flavor is more rounded. You can enjoy the rice with the main dish. Here, I enjoy corn rice with beef seasoned with my Homemade Yakiniku Sauce.
Option 3: More butter + more soy sauce
Mr. JOC and our son are partial to this option because it has a richer “butter shoyu” flavor. They both prefer their food to have a stronger taste. It comes down to your preference. Regardless of how you choose to season it, each one is equally delicious. The only difference for Option 3 is the rice will have a much darker color from the amount of soy sauce used.
Ingredients for Japanese Corn Rice
- Ears of corn
- Japanese short-grain rice
- Salt
- Sake
- Soy sauce
- Butter (I use unsalted; if you use salted butter, adjust the amount of salt)
- Freshly ground black pepper
How to Make Japanese Corn Rice
- Remove corn from the cobs
- Rinse rice and add to the heavy-bottomed pot (I used this Hario Gohangama; you can use a rice cooker)
- Add seasonings, water, and corn (and cobs) on top.
- Cook the rice and let steam.
- Put the butter and freshly ground black pepper on top and fluff up the rice before serving.
How To Adjust the Amount of Rice
For Japanese cooking, we calculate the amount of rice based on a rice cooker cup. One rice cooker cup is 180 ml or ¾ US cup.
For this recipe, I used 3 rice cooker cups of short-grain rice which yield roughly 5-6 people. Depending on the amount you would like to serve, please adjust the total rice cooking liquid as follows:
- 1 Rice Cooker Cup (180 ml or ¾ cup): 200 ml (2 tsp sake + 1 tsp soy sauce + water)
- 2 Rice Cooker Cups (360 ml or 1½ cups): 400 ml (4 tsp sake + 2 tsp soy sauce + water)
- 3 Rice Cooker Cups (540 ml or 2¼ cups): 600 ml (2 Tbsp sake + 1 Tbsp soy sauce + water)
- 4 Rice Cooker Cups (720 ml or 3 cups): 800 ml (2.5 Tbsp sake + 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce + water)
- 5 Rice Cooker Cups (900 ml or 3¾ cups): 1000 ml (3 Tbsp sake + 2 Tbsp soy sauce + water)
Cooking Tips
- Use fresh corn. For a simple dish like this, it is common sense to use fresh, raw corn on the cob.
- Remove kernels from cobs. Hold the cob steady. With a sharp knife, make long downward strokes on the cob, separating kernels from the cob. You can also buy this corn kernel peeler but I honestly prefer using a knife.
- Always soak Japanese short-grain rice. The amount of liquid for cooking the rice is the same as cooking white rice despite the addition of corn kernels. However, the seasonings (sake and soy sauce) should be included in the total liquid. I recommend adding the seasonings and filling up the required amount of liquid with water.
- Add the cobs to the rice. The cobs have a lot of concentrated sweetness, so don’t throw them away! Include them in the pot (or rice cooker) for more flavor! Cut into desirable smaller pieces so the cobs will fit in your pot.
This is truly a quick and easy recipe that celebrates the best of summer produce, so I hope you find joy in making it!
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Japanese Corn Rice
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice (450 g, 3 rice cooker cups; to adjust the rice amount, read the blog post)
- 2 ears sweet corn (large, with husks; about 12.2 oz, 345 g each)
For the Rice Cooking Liquid (2½ cups, 600 ml total)
- 2 Tbsp sake
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2⅓ cups water
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For Serving
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter (or more, if you‘d like; use vegan butter for vegan)
- soy sauce (for drizzling; optional)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. To see the metric measurements, click the Metric button above. The ratio of white rice to water is 1 : 1.1 (or 1.2). I cooked this recipe in my Hario donabe, but you can use a rice cooker (same measurements, and start cooking as usual) or a heavy-bottomed pot (for better heat distribution).
To Rinse the Rice
- To a large bowl, add 2¼ cups uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice and just enough water to completely submerge the rice. Then, discard the water immediately (so the rice doesn‘t absorb the cloudy water). Tip: Rice absorbs water very quickly when you start rinsing, so don‘t let the rice absorb the first few rounds of water.
- Use your fingers to gently wash the rice in a circular motion for 15–20 seconds.
- Add water to rinse, then discard the water. Repeat this process a couple of times until the water is nearly clear.
- When the water is almost clear, drain well. Tip: Use a fine-mesh sieve to drain and shake off the excess water.
To Prepare the Corn
- Peel away the outer leaves from the 2 ears sweet corn until only one thin layer of inner leaves remains. Grasp the top of the leaves and the tassel together in one hand and pull them straight down in one firm tug, inverting the husk from the cob. Break off the leaves and silks from the ear‘s base and discard them. Pick away any remaining silks. Rinse under cold running water.
- Lay the corn cob on the cutting board and hold it steady. Use a sharp knife to slice off the kernels in long, downward cuts. You can also use a corn kernel peeler, but I prefer using a knife for this task. Once you‘ve cut off all the kernels, cut the cobs in half or smaller pieces (so they fit in your pot).
To Prepare the Corn Rice
- In a measuring cup, add 2 Tbsp sake and 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and then add 2⅓ cups water. You should have a total of 2½ cups (600 ml) cooking liquid. Tip: If you like well-seasoned rice, you can increase the soy sauce, but make sure to reduce the water by the same amount so your total cooking liquid is still 2½ cups (600 ml).
- Add the well-drained rice in a heavy-bottomed pot or donabe (or rice cooker pot). Then, add the cooking liquid that you just measured.
- Add 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and mix well. Level the rice so the surface is evenly flat.
- Add the corn kernels on top in an even layer. DO NOT MIX with the rice. The rice will not cook evenly if mixed with other ingredients.
- Put the cobs on top of the corn and close the lid. Let the rice soak for 20–30 minutes before cooking. It‘s important to soak Japanese short-grain rice so the rounded grains absorb moisture to the core and cook evenly.
To Cook the Corn Rice
- Start cooking on medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once it‘s boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook for 13–15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and remove from the stove. DO NOT OPEN THE LID. Leave the lid on and let it steam for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, open the lid and remove the cobs.
- Sprinkle with ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper and add 2 Tbsp unsalted butter on top. Drizzle with additional soy sauce, if desired.
To Serve
- Cover the lid and bring the pot to the table. Gently fluff the rice and serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3–4 days or in the freezer for 1 month.
Nutrition
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