Meat Doria or Rice Gratin is a beloved comfort dish from childhood for many Japanese. This casserole of steamed rice is topped with a savory meat sauce and cheese, then broiled until golden and melty. It‘s a cozy home-cooked meal that kids and adults will enjoy.
Brrr… it’s really cold in San Francisco and we might see its first snowfall tonight in more than 30 years! It’s a perfect day to enjoy some oven-baked food for cold days like these. Today I want to share Meat Doria (Rice Gratin) recipe.
What is Doria? In Japan, we call rice gratins “doria.” We saute vegetables and meat in white sauce or tomato sauce, pour over the steamed rice, and then bake it in an oven or oven toaster. Gratins and dorias are my favorite comfort dish from childhood and also my children’s favorite. Stay warm!
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Meat Doria (Rice Gratin)
Ingredients
- 4 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (hot; about 4 cups, 600 g)
For the Meat Sauce
- ½ onion
- 1 rib celery
- 1 carrot
- 6 mushrooms
- 12 oz ground beef and pork combination (preferably 70% beef and 30% pork)
- 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz, 411 g)
- 3–4 cups vegetable stock/broth (or chicken stock; you need just enough to cover the ingredients when cooking, so you may not use all 4 cups)
For the Seasonings
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 Tbsp red wine
- ½ tsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp ketchup
- 3 Tbsp tonkatsu sauce (or Worcestershire sauce)
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter (plus more to grease the baking dish)
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
For the Toppings
- ¾–1 cup Mozzarella cheese (grated)
- ¾–1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan cheese (grated)
- 2–3 Tbsp panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- parsley (fresh, to garnish)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Start cooking the rice. Please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked white rice, enough for 4 servings. See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
- Finely chop ½ onion, 1 rib celery, and 1 carrot. Slice 6 mushrooms. Mince some fresh parsley and set aside for garnish.
To Cook the Sauce
- Heat a large skillet on medium high. Then, add 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Add 1 bay leaf and cook until fragrant. Then, add the onion and celery and sauté until soft.
- Add the mushroom and carrot and cook until soft.
- Add 12 oz ground beef and pork combination and 4 Tbsp red wine. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat.
- When the meat is almost cooked, add 1 can diced tomatoes with their juice and ½ tsp sugar. Then, add just enough of the 3–4 cups vegetable stock/broth to cover the ingredients. Don‘t add too much stock; you will need to reduce the cooking liquid until it‘s almost evaporated.
- Add 3 Tbsp ketchup and 3 Tbsp tonkatsu sauce. Bring it to a boil.
- Use a fine-mesh skimmer to skim off the excess fat and foam from the cooking liquid.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer (without a lid) until most of the liquid evaporates. It‘s done cooking if you can see the bottom of the skillet when you draw a line through the sauce with your spatula.
- Add 1 Tbsp unsalted butter and season with Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Discard the bay leaf.
To Assemble and Broil
- Butter the baking dish(es). Add 4 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (hot) in an even layer.
- Pour the meat sauce on top of the rice. Then, sprinkle ¾–1 cup Mozzarella cheese (grated) on top, followed by ¾–1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan cheese (grated) and finally 2–3 Tbsp panko (Japanese breadcrumbs).
- Set the oven setting to broil on High. Broil for 2–3 minutes until the cheese is nicely melted and turns a golden color. Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: Pictures and recipe updated in September 2012.
I made this for dinner tonight and I grabbed my frozen bag of prepared green bell peppers instead of the celery! Whoops! Still tasted amazing though! I couldn’t believe how easy this was to make. Thank you so much for sharing!
Ah, forgot to mention! I was stationed in Yokosuka for a few years and I miss the food terribly much! I discovered you through Pinterest about 8 months ago and I try to make your recipes as often as I can so I won’t forget. Japan is an amazing country and although I cannot go back and live there, it’s a definite country to visit and cherish.
Hi Kari! I’m happy to know you found me on Pinterest. Thank you for trying my recipes! I’m happy to know you enjoyed your stay in Japan. I really miss food in Japan too, and the best I could do is to re-create those dishes at home… 🙂
I’m glad yours came out well! Thanks for trying this recipe. It’s very easy and my children loves rice dishes, so this veggie + meat in one dish is great! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Hey Nami,
I omitted Panko the first time I made this, but added it on top the next time I had made it and it burned under the hot broil setting. Is there a way to avoid that? I used slices of cheese to cover the meat sauce and that did really well.
Hi Kari! How close was it between the heat source and the top of the doria? If it’s very close, you need to use lower rack. The purpose of putting in the oven at the end is to melt the cheese and get nice golden brown char on top. Everything is cooked, so you don’t need to worry about cooking it.
My suggestion would be to put the dish a bit far from the heat source (enough to melt the cheese), or if it’s burnt too quickly, you want to take it out from the oven earlier. I do not preheat the oven for broil (unless I mention), so 2-3 minutes is perfect timing for my case. Hope that helps!
Nami,
Thank you for this recipe! My toddler boy loves rice and cheese. I cannot wait to try this!
Hi Lu! My children like this a lot! I hope your son will like it. 🙂
Thank you Nami San for this nostalgic recipe! Do you also have a Gratin recipe that you can share? I absolutely love all of your recipes!!!
Hi Naoko-san! I actually should share more gratin recipes – thanks for your suggestion! It’s not a typical Japanese style but I only have this one so far… It’s delicious though. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/potato-leek-gratin/
My family has spent 10 wonderful years on the beautiful island of Okinawa and we love Japanese food! My youngest son, who was born on-island, tells everyone that he is Japanese. We are preparing to return to the states in a few months, and so I am trying to gather recipes that will ensure that my son and the rest of us will not have to do without our favorites dishes! A search for Doria led me to your wonderful website!!!! Wonderful recipes! Thank you so much!
Hi Belinda-Marie! Welcome to my blog! I have a lot of people who lived in Japan and enjoyed the Japanese food while living, but now they are back in their home country and use my recipes. I hope you find some of your favorite recipes on my site. Enjoy the rest of your stay in Okinawa! I’m from Yokohama but I haven’t had a chance to visit Okinawa yet… maybe I can squeeze in a short trip when I go back this summer. 🙂
Is there anything that I can replace the red wine with? Or can I not include it? I am a minor in college and can’t access alcohol easily 😛 but this looks amazing
Sorry, I did not see one of the above comments.
Don’t worry you can omit but add more stock. 🙂 Hope you enjoy! Thanks for checking previous comments. 🙂
Looks tasty!
I’m making this for dinner tonight and I can use up a ton of left over meat and veggies I have! Will need to get some more cheese though.
and funny story i ended up coming here after reading the Kingdom Hearts 2 manga where one of the characters was microwaving some Doria and I thought, “That sounds really delicious and I have no idea what it is.”
and thank you for saving this poor little college girl with your sobboro don.
Hi Kristina! I hope you enjoy(ed) the doria! I haven’t watched manga for a long time but am so glad to know you found my doria recipe through a scene from manga. 🙂 Oh soboro is a fantastic recipe, easy and quick!
Nami, my significant other and I were blessing you this evening as we were eating. This doria is now one of our staples. I’ve been reading your blog for about a month now and have tried many of your recipes and loved them all. Your blog is fantastic and I’m so grateful for it. It’s tiding me over until I can fulfill my lifelong dream of visiting Japan!
Hi Alex! Thank you so much for your kind words and I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed meat doria. This picture definitely needs an upgrade as I love this recipe but the photos are not well-taken… *sigh* Despite the bad photo, thank you so much for trying this recipe and many others from my site. I hope you get to visit Japan one day! By then, you will be very familiar with Japanese cooking. 😉 Thanks again!
Hi. I love your website! I was wondering, since I don’t use red wine much in my dishes, what type of red wine do you suggest for this dish and for other steak dishes in general?
Hi Cindy! Happy New Year! I’m so happy to hear you like my site. 🙂 You can’t keep the wine too long, so anything that you like to drink after you use in cooking would be good. Especially we use small portion in cooking, you may want to think drinking is primary and cooking secondary. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Just wanted to let u know that I was so glad to be able to cook something so simple, quick & yummy straight after work & gym when I got home:D It’s something that I can always cook on those busy days. Thank u for sharing the great talented cook within u:)
Btw does red wine always go well with red meat for taste?
Hi Jasmine! Thank you so much for your kind feedback, and I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. 🙂 Yes, wine goes well with red meat, especially with tomato-based sauce. I have Meat Sauce recipe (https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/spaghetti-meat-sauce/) that I use red wine too. Thanks for stopping by to leave a comment. 🙂
I want to make meat doria but i don’t have red wine, tonkatsu sauce and vegetable broth.. Can i subtitute with other liquid? Can i used chicken broth instead pf vegetables broth?? I really want to try this recipe.. Looks yummy..
Tq
Hi Siska! Sure, chicken broth is okay and you can substitute tonkatsu sauce with Worcestershire sauce. Hope you enjoy it!
Tq for the reply naomi.. What about the red wine? Can i skip it? Or is there any substitute for the red wine? Tq
Hi Siska! Sorry, I forgot to mention about red wine. You can omit the red wine, but add little more stock. 🙂
I just wanted to say that I tried this recipe, and I couldn’t believe how delicious it was. My boyfriend also really loved it, and he’s kind of picky when it comes to trying new foods. I’m definitely going to make this on a regular basis.
Hi Sarah! I’m so happy you and your BF liked it. 🙂 It’s easy to make and very fulfilling comfort food for us! My children loves this dish all year around (but appears more often on the table in fall/winter). Thank you so much for writing and giving me feedback! You made my day!
What a great meal for the beginning of Fall! Thanks for sharing. This really made my family happy at the dinner table tonight.
Hi Rachel! I’m so happy to hear that your family loved it! Thank you for letting me know your feedback! 🙂
I love the way u teach me to cook’
Thanks again. I try to break it down to simple and detail directions so that my kids will try to cook one day by reading my recipes. 🙂
Just try doria receipe. Smell and taste so yummy’
Hi Mira! Thank you for trying my recipe! I’m glad you liked it. 🙂 I really appreciate your feedback. I get easily motivated by your kind note. Thanks!
I discovered your homepage by coincidence.
Very interesting posts and well written.
I will put your site on my blogroll.
🙂
Thank you Terry for your comment and I am glad you enjoy the site!