Matsutake mushroom (pine mushroom) – a delicacy from Japan are highly prized by the Japanese for its distinct aromatic scent and flavor.
In Japan, wild matsutake mushrooms are hard to find and the high quality ones can cost up to $1,000 per pound and the exotic ones for up to $2,000. Luckily, we are able to find them in the local Japanese supermarket for about $40 per pound (US grown). Living up to its reputation, the aroma and flavor this mushroom offer is simply amazing.
Matsutake Gohan (Seasoned Rice with Matsutake) is probably the most popular and well-known matsutake recipe in Japan. Its flavor and essence has been compared to France’s truffles. During my research, I became curious on the differences between truffles and mushrooms. It turns out truffles and mushrooms are both fungi, the key difference is mushrooms grows above ground and truffles grow underground. Isn’t it interesting?
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A delicacy from Japan are highly prized by the Japanese for its distinct aromatic scent and flavor.
- 3 rice cooker cups uncooked Japanese short grain rice
- 4-7 oz Matsutake mushrooms (110 - 200 g; I used 7 oz today)
- 2 ½ cup dashi (600 ml) (use kombu dashi for vegetarian)
- Mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (to garnish)
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Rinse the rice under running water several times until the water is almost translucent and drain well.
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Trim off the bottom of the mushroom stems. Thoroughly clean the mushroom with damp towel or paper towel. Do not wash the mushroom. Slice lengthwise into ⅛” slices.
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Put the rice and Seasonings in a rice cooker, and add dashi until a 3-cup line (you don't need to use all dashi).
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Add matsutake mushroom on top of the rice (do not mix!) and start cooking. Rice cookers these days include the soaking time; however, you can also soak rice for 15-30 minutes before cooking.
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When the rice is cooked, mix it gently. Garnish with Mitsuba before you serve.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
