Craving for a dish that is light yet comforting? This easy, homemade 0chazuke with green tea, steamed rice, and simple savory ingredients will hit the right spot.
Ochazuke (お茶漬け) is a simple rice dish which combines green tea (ocha), steamed rice, and an assortment of savory ingredients (zuke means “submerged”). The Japanese enjoy this dish more as quick meal or a dish at the end of the meal to fill up instead of proper meal time food.
Watch How to Make Ochazuke お茶漬けの作り方
Warm and comforting homemade ochazuke with salted salmon, rice cracker, nori, and mitsuba. Make it with green tea or savory dashi.
For me, ochazuke is one of my favorite comfort food. It was a perfect amount of food for my midnight snack when I had jet lag. The warm tea and rice were well received by my exhausted body and tasting it immediately comforted my homesickness.
We often eat ochazuke when you feel under the weather or simply when there are no other ingredients to cook with. The ingredients for ochazuke recipe are pretty common in Japanese pantry so we don’t need to go shopping specifically to make this dish.
You might have seen in Japanese manga or drama that a student eats ochazuke during late night while studying or when a salaryman gets home from work after midnight and need something to eat before sleeping. Ochazuke is a perfect quick meal to ease your hunger, as it’s light, can be quickly prepared, and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside after eating.
Types of Green Tea You Can Use for Ochazuke
Various kinds of green tea such as Genmaicha, Sencha, Hojicha etc) are commonly used for ochazuke and it’s easy to prepare. However, when you order ochazuke in Japanese restaurants, the ochazuke recipe is typically made with good dashi broth and that’s my personal favorite.
The ochazuke served with green tea tends to be more bland and relies on salty toppings to add some flavors. But with good dashi, your ochazuke can be very flavorful even with just a few simple toppings.
Suggestions for Toppings
Speaking of toppings, here are some of the ingredients that commonly used for ochazuke recipe in Japan: Japanese pickles like Salted Plum (Umeboshi), (spicy), pollock roe (tarako & mentaiko), salmon roe (ikura), Salted Salmon, Sea Bream (tai) sashimi, tiny rice crackers (bubu arare), nori seaweed, sesame seeds, scallion or mitsuba, and wasabi.
I know some of these ingredients are quite hard to get outside of Japan so feel free to change the ingredients and create your own ochazuke recipe. Making ochazuke is a great way to use up leftover rice and other foods from your fridge!
Lastly, I want to quickly mention that there are instant ochazuke packets you can buy from Japanese/Asian grocery stores or Amazon. They include dried pickled plum, salmon, nori, rice crackers, and green tea, and all you need to do is pour hot water or tea. It’s convenient, but you can’t beat the taste and flavor of homemade ochazuke. Especially with good dashi broth, it is so comforting and delicious!
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- 1 salted salmon (or ½ fillet of salmon and pinch of salt)
- 1 cup cooked Japanese short grain rice
- 1 tsp Bubu arare (crispy puffed rice pallets) (or use Japanese rice crackers)
- 1 tsp shredded nori seaweed (kizami nori)
- ¼ tsp white sesame seeds (roasted/toasted)
- 2 stands Mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (trefoil, or ⅛ scallion, cut into small pieces)
- Wasabi (optional, for taste)
- 2 tsp Japanese green tea leaves (I used Genmaicha, but Sencha, Hojicha, Mugicha works as well)
- 1 cup hot water (see the tea package for appropriate temperature for your tea leaves)
- ½ tsp soy sauce (optional)
Gather all the ingredients.
- Bake the salted salmon fillet (shiojake) at 400F degree for 25 minutes. If you’re using regular salmon, season the salmon with salt and set aside for 10 minutes before baking. When it’s cooked, remove the skin and bones and break up the salmon flesh into flakes. Set aside.
- If you don’t have Bubu Arare, crush rice crackers into small pieces (you can also use a bag to crush it).
- Ochazuke with Dashi: Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Pour the soup into a small tea pot.
- Ochazuke with Tea: Put tea leaves in the pot. Bring the water to the appropriate temperature for your tea and pour into the pot. Set aside for 1-2 minute (follow the directions on your tea bag).
- Now serve the cooked rice in the serving bowl. Place the shredded salmon and sprinkle the rice cracker, nori, and sesame seeds on top.
- Ochazuke with Dashi: Pour the dashi until it covers half of the rice and top with mitsuba and wasabi. Enjoy!
- Ochazuke with Tea: Pour the tea until it covers half of the rice and top with mitsuba and wasabi. Add soy sauce if you like.
Cook Time: If you don’t cook salted salmon, the total time is less than 10 minutes.
Tea leaves: 3 gram (1 tsp) tea leaves for 100 ml (about 1/2 cup) hot water.
To Serve: Serve with tsukemono, such as Pickled Cucumber, as a part of meal.
For the summer: You can use cold rice and cold dashi or tea in summer time to enjoy a cool and refreshing version of Ochazuke.
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 and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
This rice dish with the green tea reminds me of a type of comforting type soup. Luv the idea of green tea in the rice, will need to try this! Beautiful images, Nami!! 🙂
I think I need to watch more Japanese movies 🙂 I don’t think that I’ve tried Ochazuke when I was in Japan. But hey, I can make it at home 🙂 Thank you Nami.
Please don’t start the countdown too soon. I’m savouring each day in July and when August comes, it’s just not as enjoyable with September looming ahead.
This sounds like a great breakfast dish with leftover from the fridge. I think I saw it for the first time on Shinya Shokudo.
By the way, I made Broccoli Gomaae a couple of days ago. Very tasty though I’ll use more sesame seeds and tahini next time.
I made a bowl of ockazuke or “neko manma” yesterday. It was yummy.
Thank you for trying Ochazuke recipe!! I’m so glad you liked it. 😀 xo
Nami,
OMG!!! Thank you soooo much!!!!! I hated those MSG laden ochazuke packets. Now I can experience real one at home! You are so creative <3
Hi Aiko! Make sure to try Dashi version! It’s so delicious!
I sure will! I am thinking of combining the dashi and green tea!! I can’t wait!!!
Sounds excellent! 🙂
Love the idea of adding tea to this dish! Every dish you make is so interesting, and this is no exception. Love the flavors in this — thanks so much.
Hehee thank you John! I would love to introduce more Japanese home cooking recipes besides sushi, tempura, and teriyaki chicken that people know. Thank you for your kind words. 🙂
I grew up with those instant ochazuke packets, so I never knew there was a “real” version like this; it looks wonderful! Also, funny that I never heard of Bubu Arare but since I always have rice crackers, I’m eager to try it!
Hi Julie! The “real” version takes a bit more time than those packet ones, but it tastes 1000 times better. 🙂 Bubu arare are tiny little rice cracker balls in ochazuke packets. Hope you try with dashi version too!
I don’t much care for cooked fish, so I make this with bacon, ham or ajitsuke tamago and its delicious! I am going to try the unagi version as soon as I can get to Mitsuwa. I’d also like to try making it with tofu, any suggestions?
Hi Rei! I love your creative ochazuke! Unagi chazuke… yum! Tofu – we have “Tofu Chazuke” which you put silken tofu on top as a topping. Delicious!
Hi Nami!
I made ochazuke before and it’s slightly bland for me. I’ll make sure to try dashi version for extra umami! Do you think it’s a good idea to use rice cereal puffs to substitute bubu arare/rice crackers since I don’t have both? I’m going to use leftover smoked salmon as well^^
I love Ochazuke when I feel like I’m coming down with a cold, or sometimes, as just a snack in between meals. I’ve never made my own from scratch, however. I will look forward to tasting what fresh Ochazuke is like (I’ll probably never go back to the packets!). Thank you!
Hi DawnM! Ochazuke packet is very convenient and I do keep one package in my pantry. 🙂 However, when I have leftover salted salmon or good pickles or ikura… I make dashi for ochazuke and eat fresh ochazuke. Ahh so delicious! 😀 Thank you for your kind comment!
Nami, another scrumptious recipe and video! I’d love to give this a try — perfect light meal for this hot weather.
Hi Nami,
お茶漬け is always a popular lunch choice to me whenever I don’t feel like cooking or just want a simple light meal. Sometimes I’d have 汁かけご飯 which was my childhood favourite. I later discovered it’s called 猫まんま/猫飯 in west Japan as it’s for cat apparently. Have you ever had 猫まんま before? Which version?
Hi Niu! How funny! I haven’t heard of ねこまんま for a loooooooooong time! Maybe because my mom grew up in Osaka, I did hear this word from my mom (but not commonly used in Tokyo area?). I remember (if my memory is correct), it was used more in the context that I pour miso soup over rice and my mom would say like “don’t eat like ねこまんま” or something like that. She wasn’t a big fan of pouring miso soup over rice… but I still remember (actually thanks to you I start to remember) cold miso soup pouring over rice… I like it when miso soup had onion and tofu… (and my mom wasn’t happy if I quickly do it while she was looking away. =P ). I didn’t know there are many version for that. 🙂
A “quick” meal and still healthy! The Japanese are just the best! I’ll try this out 🙂
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
Since I drink a cup of green tea every night and have for decades and also have cold rice in the fridge five days out of seven, I just cannot understand I have not put the two together even if for a midnight snack ! Surely better and more comforting than going to find a piece of chocolate or cheese 🙂 ! Thank you . . .
Hope you try this when you remember next time! It’s comforting and quick dish and stay warm! 🙂
Right now I could use some soupy comfort. It is freezing in Aussie right now. I love rice with soup; it is only way I can eat it willingly. SO delicious Nami! Mouthwatering pictures
wow, that looks tasty Nani,
i love making ochazuke too, but i twist the green tea with konbu and mushrooms too, then served it with thinly sliced konbu….
It looks special and delicious, but I have never try this before.
I love ochazuke!! It’s the ultimate pantry meal at my mum’s house. I never have ochazuke in my cupboard because if I did, I wouldn’t be able to fit through the door, you would be horrified how much I can eat in one sitting!!
Really lovely dish for comfort indeed or on the go. Love the idea with the green tea. So many options to play around with.
I could seriously go for a bowl of this right now! It looks so comforting!
I grew up on a more simplified version of this, so I can’t wait to try this recipe! It brings back memories of my childhood!
Hi Mary! I hope you like this recipe, especially with dashi. Thank you for your comment! 🙂
I have heard of this before, but never actually seen it! Looks fantastic 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Just by reading the title ‘green tea with rice’ I can already tell this will be a favorite at home. Must try this simple, yet healthy soup-rice meal. Thanks for sharing and appreciate the blog visits, Nami!
I like green tea and often drink it, didn’t know that it can be poured over rice to eat , next time I must try this ochazuke!
What a flavorful dish!! You really know how to make a fabulous rice-dish!!
Thank you so much for this recipe Nami! My dear friend (whose grandmother hails from Okinawa) introduced me to instant ochazuke packets and I have been obsessed with making my own ever since. I had gotten kind of close by pouring Genmaicha over rice topped with wakame chazuke furikake but it wasn’t the same. I am certain your recipe will be perfect as always! Thank you again and please keep up the excellent work. 🙂
Hi Veggie Pi! Glad to hear you’re interested in trying this recipe and hope you enjoy, especially with dashi this time! 🙂 Thank you so much for your kind words!
Ten minutes from hungry to eating? What a lovely dish. I think I’d like dashi rather than tea though.
Ochazuke has always seemed to me THE comforting Japanese dish (at least according to what I saw in Japanese films, such as Shinya Shokudo), but I must admit I have never tasted it. Your beautiful colourful version has motivated me to give it a go soon. I love the photograph with the tea being poured… Such images get engraved in my memory forever.
Thank you for reminding me about this brilliant dish. Coincidentally I had just been talking with somebody else about it and am now thinking on how to turn it into a Bento!
Surprisingly I never had this dish while in Japan. For me, the ultimate comfort food will be chicken soup, wonton soup or chicken conjee.
I didn’t know you add dashi and soy sauce into the rice too, sounds so delicious! What I missed! I have to cook this at home 🙂
What a refined and delicious looking dish! Really intriguing.
Cheers,
Rosa
Oh, boy, besides being gorgeous, this DOES look like a bowl of comfort. I’d love it wish dashi for a boost of flavor! YUM
I really love coming here and seeing these special dishes. You might say this is ‘simple’ but like everything you make, it is so gourmet and done with such love and detail!
I have never had this and I find it so intriguing. I remember seeing relatives of mine adding tea to their rice but I never knew about this Japanese dish. I can see how it must be so comforting…it looks very delicious!
Both versions look so yummy! I don’t believe I’ve ever had ochazuke with dashi before.
Looking forward to trying that soon!
Thank you Donna! You must try with dashi next time. I really like it better. 🙂
What an elegant way of combining rice with tea! I never tried Ochazuke but this is giving me a reason to try myself someday! I love your photos, Nami! They are beautiful!
It’s so true that when you’re jetlagged, all you want is comfort foods. I just arrived home yesterday and my husband wanted to go out for dinner but all I wanted to do is curl up on the couch with a bowl of pasta. I haven’t heard of ochazuke but it looks equally as comforting xx
This looks fun to make Nami! I always admired Japanese food, there are so many dishes to choose from and it tastes just so good. I never had Ochazuke before and some ingredients are new to me, but it looks delicious and that’s enough to make me want to try it.
By the way, thanks for the pickled cucumber recipe, it was tasty 🙂
Hi Muna! I’m so glad you enjoyed the pickled cucumber recipe. Thank you so much for giving that recipe a try! xoxo
oh Nami! Your food never fails to make my tummy growl! How beautiful!
日本からお帰りになさってお茶漬けをお作りになさったそうですね。日本をさみしがったている時、やはりお茶漬けかおにぎりになりますね。。。なみさんのお茶漬けは特に美しいですのでピンしました。
Love comforting foods like this! Thanks so much for sharing the various ways to make this too. With the green tea, dashi and fish, the flavors sound amazing, Nami! I can’t wait to try this since I know my family would really enjoy this, hope you have a great rest of the weekend 🙂 Pinning 🙂
You’re a great teacher as well as excellent cook. This looks like it would hit the spot anytime.
I have never had this dish! Very unique – we’re definitely going to try this with tea. Your photos are gorgeous as always, Nami.
Gorgeous photos, Namiko and your hubby! What a lovely rice dish using ocha, I want to try that with cooked rice, it looks so delicious with soy sauce and green tea including umeboshi, toasted sesame seeds and nori seaweed. My partner is a wasabi fan, he would eat spoonfuls of it no matter how spicy they are. I love the stories you share behind the dish – that is definitely a perfect quick comforting meal to make when you get back from a long flight or had a very long and busy day ❤
I love the sound of this Nami – kind of a like a quick rice porridge with tea. This would be great for breakfast or lunch.
Another interesting dish Nami, I am learning a lot here at the same time trying to find out how some of the Filipino dishes are connected to the Japanese. I remember there is something similar my grandmother used to do but instead of tea she uses coffee on rice and it is also topped with some salted dried fish.
Never heard of ochazuke till now.. but sounds so interesting as it combines green tea with rice. Would really like to try it out.
oh it looks so fresh with the salted salmon. You should have your own restaurant my friend. You are amazing and your dishes never disappoint.
I had something similar to this at a tea house in Washington D.C. once but have never been able to replicate it. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I can see why you call it comfort food. The one I had was so warm and comforting and I’m sure yours will be 100% better.
Hi Nami,
Just want to say thank you so much for sharing your Japanese recipe. My family and I love Japanese food and with your recipe, it is indeed time saving and easy. I tried out the Ochazuke that you’ve shared but tweaked it a little. I grilled the salmon with salt and pepper and just added dashi stock (for my kids) and dashi and green tea for myself and hubby and WE LOVE IT. Thanks again. Just the right thing for a hot summery day as it’s not too heavy a dish for dinner. Looking forward to trying out some of your other recipes.
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer! Aww thank you so much for writing and I’m happy to hear you enjoy Japanese food. Glad this recipe worked out for you, too! If you like unagi, you might enjoy Unagi Chazuke (https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/unagi-chazuke/). If you don’t have Kombu Cha (kelp powder), you can use regular tea and dashi instead, just like you tried. 🙂 Thank you once again!
Oh wow, I have never heard of this dish before! Those interesting that you pour green tea over rice! I would love to try something like this. 😀
Hi. I was wondering if unacha (うな茶) is similar to this, and if not, how are they different? If they are similar, what would you do differently to make it?
Hi Jane! Unacha means Unagi Chazuke, so you have to put Unagi (grilled/broiled eel) on the top. 🙂
I have a recipe for it in case you are interested:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/unagi-chazuke/
It is wonderful!!!! Thanks a lot.
Thank you Merline! 🙂
So my family and I have made ochazuke before with green tea and have loved it. Your recipe here is what we have used as a guideline to making it many times. One thing is that I often am making homemade pickles (whether using your salt & sugar recipe or soy sauce or rice vinegar & sugar), and we always love adding them into our ochazuke; Especially daikon always seems to taste amazing in it. Since its been a favorite, we decided to try the dashi you recommend here. I’m not sure if it was the addition of the pickled cucumber and daikon or whether it was the added salt on top of soy sauce in the dashi, but it was way over the top salty. Add the salted salmon and it was almost unedible. Peesonally, I think we’ll stick to the green tea. The flavors are amazing and it is always lovely and it feels like every bite has a new combination of flavors to enjoy. I did try it a second time with dashi by adding extra mirin and only adding a tiny bit of salt (for a 3 person serving size), but its still extremely salty. It was edible this time, but lack the nuance of flavor our family loves in the green tea version. If you have any ideas on how to make it better with the dashi, I’d love to hear them. Thanks as always for your great recipes!
Hi Emerald! Do you use dashi powder, maybe? It contains MSG and maybe salt. Homemade dashi uses just water and kelp/katsuobushi, and not salty at all. 🙂 If you use homemade dashi, then salt must come from somewhere but it’s not from dashi. Try making homemade dashi. It’s so delicious with real umami flavor. 🙂
Thanks for your fast reply. I usually am careful about the dashi I use. I try to stay away from msg as its very bad for you. I’m sure they must’ve added salt, but I tend to follow what many of your own recipes and other sites suggest for dashi (just buying the kind you can brew like tea into water). My major concern aside from the saltiness is the lack of nuances that the dashi gives. Its kind of flat (very umami) and lacks much interest for me. Green tea seemed like every bite had its own flavors. It was like a wonderful experience where each bite (depending if you got pickles, salmon, bubu arare, nori, shitake, or whatever else you added) blended differently. When the dashi was added instead, it seems more like a soup with a flat flavor. Will that also change if you make dashi yourself?
I understand the “bland” taste of dashi – it’s definitely subtle flavor. For example, shabu shabu made with kombu dashi is very subtle broth, and many people don’t really taste the flavor especially if they are used to spicy hot pot or more flavorful broth. I guess it is probably come down to preference. Green tea (although it has so many kinds) have stronger flavor than dashi, and it adds more flavor, while dashi not necessarily adds strong flavor to the dish. It’s more like background taste that you know it’s there. 🙂
Hi Nami-san,
Do you know of any recipes that uses bubu arare? I saw it in a bento book once with shrimp I think but I can’t seem to find it. I googled it and saw one for fried asparagus but unfortunately, my kids don’t like asparagus much : (
If you can think of any that would be great! I’m looking for bento fillers for my daughter. She doesn’t like egg which seem to be the most popular filler for bentos next to musubis.
Love your recipes!
Yuko
Hi Yuko! You have bubu arare? That’s awesome! You can use it like panko. If I have tons of bubu arare, I’d make chicken karaage with it. Like you said, shrimp is perfect. I use coconut flakes and the recipe is here:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/coconut-shrimp/
Bento filler can be small side dishes from your dinner menus. Typical dishes include: Kinpira Gobo, Spinach Gomaae, Nishime, to name a few. Have fun making bento!
Is it possible to use raw salmon in this dish instead of cooking it? I’m thinking of trying this recipe as I’ve enjoyed testing and creating some of your other recipes (which were wonderful!).
Hi Emi! Yes you can, but make sure the raw salmon is sashimi grade. 🙂 So happy to hear you enjoy my recipes!
Can I use matcha for this recipe?
Hi San! Do you mean matcha like this thick and creamy matcha drink?
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-matcha-japanese-green-tea/
Hmmm I had never seen this mixed with rice… it’s a bit too strange for the Japanese’s taste. It has to be soupy and liquidy, not creamy like this.
I was watching the show Hyori Bed and Breakfast (it’s a korean show) and they were cooking this dish (and it looked delicious so I looked online for a recipe) and I had the feeling they used matcha powder to make the tea (but it wasn’t thick) and then mixed it with soy sauce (actually I think they used tuna extract instead of soy sauce), so I was curious if it’s good with matcha but I think I’ll make it with sencha tea for my first try.
Hmm interesting! Let me know how it goes. 😀
Hi Nami, looks delicious!
Quick question, do you reheat the rice before serving or does the broth heat it sufficiently?
I know reheating rice is supposed to be risky.
Hi Max! Where was the rice stored? I usually store my rice in the freezer (even I would use it the next day: here’s my post: https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-freeze-rice/), so I would microwave till warm.
In summer we eat Ochazuke with cold tea with room temp/cold rice etc… so there is no need to reheat it unless you want to eat ochazuke hot. 🙂
Why reheating rice is risky?