Takikomi Gohan is a wonderful and comforting Japanese mixed rice recipe made with seasonal ingredients. It‘s a savory bowl of flavorful rice that‘s perfect to serve with simple meals. This recipe is also gluten-free!
One of the easiest ways to include more vegetables in your diet is to add vegetables to your rice. When your main course is a simple dish such as grilled fish, Japanese Mixed Rice or Takikomi Gohan (炊き込みご飯) brings up more flavors and varieties to the meal.
Table of Contents
What is Takikomi Gohan?
Takikomi Gohan is a Japanese rice dish in which we cook short-grain rice with vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, or meat. We usually season it with Japanese stock (dashi) and soy sauce.
Depending on where you are/live in Japan, this dish might be called Kayaku Gohan (かやくご飯) or Gomoku Gohan (五目ご飯), 5-ingredient mixed rice, which is loosely translated because there are roughly five ingredients.
There is also a very similar dish called Maze Gohan (混ぜご飯). Unlike Takikomi Gohan where we cook the uncooked rice and other ingredients in the same pot, Maze Gohan is cooked rice mixed with cooked and seasoned ingredients.
Do any of these names sound familiar to you?
Takikomi Gohan Ingredients
What are good ingredients to put in your Takikomi Gohan recipe? Let’s start with the most basic one, which is today’s recipe.
Basic Ingredients
You can make a simple Takikomi Gohan with white rice, carrots, burdock root (gobo), konnyaku (a wobbly jello-like slab made of taro/yam), deep-fried tofu pouch (aburaage), and shiitake mushrooms. These are the most common ingredients that you expect to see in Takikomi Gohan.
If you use kombu dashi, this dish is vegetarian and vegan.
Some variations include chicken thigh or breast adding more flavors to the dish, and I’ve made today’s recipe with chicken thigh.
Popular Takikomi Gohan Ingredients
Besides the basic ingredients I mentioned above, these are other popular and seasonal ingredients used in Takikomi Gohan.
- Bamboo shoots – spring
- Beef (thinly sliced or scraps)
- Canned tuna
- Chestnuts (recipe) – fall
- Clams or Asari (あさり)
- Hijiki seaweed
- Matsutake Mushrooms (recipe) – fall
- Mushrooms – king oyster, maitake, shimeji, etc
- Pacific saury or Sanma (秋刀魚) – fall
- Peas
- Sweet potatoes
Japanese enjoy making different Takikomi Gohan depending on the season, and I’ll be sharing them on my blog in the future.
3 Tips to Make the Best Takikomi Gohan
Here are some important tips and techniques to remember when you make Takikomi Gohan.
1. Keep portion in control
I tend to add too many ingredients when I make this dish and it doesn’t feel like a rice dish anymore. So, keep in mind that the ingredients should be roughly 20-30% of cooked rice when it’s done cooking (eyeball this, it doesn’t have to be perfect). If you put too many of these ingredients, they will absorb all the liquid in the rice cooker and the rice will not cook properly.
2. Soak rice in water
It’s very important to soak rice after washing it. It will help the rice to absorb the flavors from the ingredients and seasonings. It will also help the rice become fluffier and tender.
After proper soaking, make sure to drain the water for at least 15 minutes. This is very important so that when you add to the rice cooker bowl, you won’t incidentally add any extra water that’s not called for in the recipe that could dilute the seasonings. Also, be sure not to drain too long because the rice will crack when it gets too dry.
You might think soaking the rice in the seasoning adds more flavor to the rice. But that’s not true. Soy sauce and other seasonings prevent the rice from absorbing water. Plus, the seasoning will separate into layers if you leave it too long. Therefore, it’s best to start cooking immediately after you add the seasonings and toppings.
3. Do not mix rice and other ingredients before Cooking
Make sure to mix the rice and ingredients together only after the rice is cooked. The rice gets cooked properly (due to the circulation of heat and water) when it’s cooked at the bottom of the rice cooker bowl (or even pot).
When you are adding ingredients on top of the rice, place hard ingredients like root vegetables first, then gradually to softer ingredients on top.
Immediately after Takikomi Gohan is done cooking, fluff up the rice with a rice paddle as if you are cutting the rice and then scoop over to gently mix the rice and ingredients all together.
Takikomi Gohan vs. Maze Gohan
Remember, Takikomi Gohan is the rice COOKED WITH ingredients. Maze Gohan is the cooked rice MIXED with cooked ingredients. Some of you might wonder which method is better, and here are my thoughts.
When you cook together, the rice absorbs more flavors from the ingredients. However, it also means that the ingredients are cooking for the same amount of time as the rice, so the ingredients can become harder and tougher.
Therefore, if you use ingredients that you want to keep tender and don’t want to lose the texture, I recommend cooking it separately and mix it with rice later. Scallops are a good example: they don’t need to be cooked for a long time. If you cook with rice, the scallops will overcook and become dry.
On the other hand, if the ingredients are dry (like hijiki seaweed and dried shiitake mushrooms) and it takes time for them to release the flavors, cook it together with rice. Also if the ingredients you use are flavorful, cook together with rice.
Do you have an Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker)?
No rice cooker? You can make Takikomi Gohan in your Instant Pot too! Check out the detailed recipe here: Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Takikomi Gohan.
Use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce for GF Takikomi Gohan
This Takikomi Gohan recipe can be easily converted to a gluten-free dish if you use gluten-free soy sauce.
Kikkoman offers this gluten-free tamari soy sauce. If you want to know more about this product, please click here.
If you’re gluten intolerant, check out my Gluten-Free Recipes for additional recipe ideas.
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Mixed Rice)
Video
Ingredients
- 1½ cups uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice (or 2 rice cooker cups)
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (0.5 oz, 15 g)
- ½ cup water (for soaking the shiitake and making shiitake dashi)
- ⅓ package konnyaku (konjac) (3 oz, 85 g)
- 1 piece aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch) (¾ oz, 20 g)
- 1 oz gobo (burdock root) (4 inches, 10 cm)
- 2 oz carrot (3 inches, 7.5 cm)
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh (4.8 oz, 135 g)
- 1½ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use the shiitake dashi you made from soaking the mushrooms plus standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
- 1½ Tbsp mirin
- 1½ Tbsp soy sauce
For the Garnish
- mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (or substitute green onion/scallion)
Instructions
- Prepare all the ingredients. For the Japanese short-grain rice, 1½ US cups or 2 rice cooker cups (360 ml, 300 g) of uncooked rice yields roughly 4 servings (3½ US cups, 660 g) of cooked rice.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Wash 1½ cups uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice in a large bowl. Rice absorbs water very quickly when you start washing, so don‘t let the rice absorb the opaque water. Gently wash the rice in a circular motion, add water, and discard it. Repeat this process about 3–4 times.
- Let the rice soak in water for 20–30 minutes. Then, transfer the rice into a sieve and drain completely for at least 15 minutes. Tip: It's important to soak the short-grain rice. Why not soaking in the seasoning? Soy sauce and other seasonings actually prevent the rice from absorbing water.
- Soak 3 dried shiitake mushrooms in ½ cup water for 15 minutes. I place a smaller bowl on top to keep the mushrooms submerged in the water at all times.
- In a small saucepan, bring 2 inches (5 cm) of water to a boil. Place ⅓ package konnyaku (konjac) in the boiling water and cook for 1 minute to get rid of any odor. Transfer the konnyaku to a plate to cool. Add 1 piece aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch) to the same pot of boiling water and cook for 1 minute. This removes the excess oil from the aburaage. Transfer the aburaage to a plate to cool. Discard the water.
- Scrape the skin of 1 oz gobo (burdock root) with the back of your knife. The earthy flavor and aroma of the gobo is right underneath the skin; therefore, you only need to scrape off the outer skin. Do not use a peeler. Then, make a cross incision at the thick end of the gobo about 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep. This helps make shaving the gobo easier.
- Shave the gobo from that end while constantly rotating the root with the other hand, as if you were sharpening a pencil with a knife. Soak the shaved gobo in a bowl of water to prevent discoloration.
- Cut 2 oz carrot in half lengthwise and cut diagonally into thin slices. Then, cut the slices into julienned or smaller pieces.
- Cut the aburaage and konnyaku into thin small strips.
- Cut 1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh into ¾-inch (2-cm) slanted pieces. Hold your knife at 45-degree angle and slice the chicken. This sogigiri cutting technique gives the chicken more surface area so it will cook faster and soak up flavors quickly.
- Squeeze the liquid from the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms and save the soaking liquid (this is called Shiitake Dashi). Remove the stems and cut the caps into thin slices.
- Strain the shiitake dashi into a bowl through a fine-mesh strainer to get rid of any dirty particles. In a measuring cup, add all the shiitake dashi plus enough additional dashi to make 1½ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock).
To Cook the Takikomi Gohan
- Now your ingredients are ready to cook.
- Place the drained rice in the rice cooker. Add 1½ Tbsp mirin and 1½ Tbsp soy sauce to the rice in the rice cooker pot.
- Pour the dashi and shiitake dashi mixture into the rice and mix well. Level the rice with your fingers or chopsticks.
- Next, place the chicken pieces evenly on top of the rice. Do NOT mix the chicken or other ingredients into the rice. (Tip: The rice won‘t cook properly if you mix in the ingredients at this stage. It won‘t absorb enough water and will end up with a hard texture.) Continue scattering the rest of the ingredients on top of the rice, starting with the hard ingredients and ending with the softer ingredients. Without mixing it all up, close the rice cooker lid. Tip: The seasoning will separate into layers if you leave it too long; therefore, it's best to start cooking immediately after you add the seasonings and toppings.
- Start cooking the rice. Use the Mixed Rice setting if your rice cooker has that option (see Notes below). Once the rice is done cooking, use a rice paddle to stir the rice and vegetables with a light slicing and tossing motion to distribute the ingredients evenly into the rice. The rice at the bottom of the pot gets slightly caramelized; this is called okoge and it‘s especially tasty.
To Serve
- Serve the rice hot or at room temperature. Sprinkle chopped mitsuba or green onion on top.
To Store
- You can keep the leftover rice in the freezer for up to a month. I don‘t recommend storing it in the refrigerator as the rice gets too dry and hard.
Hello Namiko-san,
I enjoy your recipes and blog very much. Thank you!
Here is my problem. I did not look at your wonderful takikomi gohan instructions before “just doing it.” Result is hard cooked takikomi gohan because everything you said to do, I did not. And everything you said “don’t do,” I did! Any suggestions
on how to make the rice softer? Add some kind of dashi and cook in the rice cooker again?
Just a note – I used a hijiki mix received from Japan – already made and ready to serve as a side dish. No suggestions about making it as takikomi gohan … but I did anyway.
Thank you for any help you can give me. Aloha, Carol
Hi Carol-san! Thank you for reading my blog! I’m happy to hear you enjoy my recipes.
I’m not sure how you have been cooking Takikomi Gohan prior to reading my recipe…. what did you do? and what you didn’t do??
To understand your issue, I need to know what you have done (or didn’t do)….
To make rice “softer”… do you mean extra soft (for easier to eat) OR your rice was so hard that you wanted a regular texture rice like I have here?
You have to soak the rice for 30 minutes, and that helps. Also use Japanese short grain rice (no other rice, please). Rice is basic here and make sure you rinse, soak, and measure water correctly.
I can help you easier if you follow my recipe and find something doesn’t work. I don’t know your recipe, and it’s hard to investigate what was wrong…
We do have Hijiki Takikomi Gohan as variety in Japan. But you soaked/hydrated hijiki before using right? Otherwise, dried hijiki will absorb all your liquid in rice cooker, and rice has no water left…
Hi, Nami!
May I ask you a question please? I had had a kind of Japanese rice bowl with half-boiled egg, bonito flakes with dried seaweed when I was in KL. As much as I remember, they served it with sushi sauce. Is it an authentic Japanese rice bowl? If yes, please let me know the name (or the recipe). I could still remember it was very delicious. Thanks.
Hi Sai! Hmm the bonito flakes with dried seaweed is called “Furikake”. I’m not sure what’s sushi “sauce” (do you mean sushi rice – steamed rice with vinegar?). I’ll need a bit more description as I only know rice seasoning + half boiled egg over rice.
Oh, yeah! They served it with Kikkoman brand, Sushi And Sashimi Soy Sauce. May be it is not an authentic rice bowl. Thanks, Nami!
I am delighted to have learned the Japanese Takikoml Gohan .It is number 1. Thanks
Thank you Alex! Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami!
Your recipe looks amazing (as all your recipes – they are ever so tasty)!
I was wondering if I could use dried instead of fresh gobo (as I only found the dried one at the store). Would I need to soak them in water first or do you think I could directly put them in their dried state into the rice cooker?
Thanks in advance for your help!
All the best to you, Julia
Hi Julia! Thank you so much for your kind words! I don’t know the dried gobo. Are they dried like dried shiitake? Just dehydrated kind? I would soak them to rehydrate completely first before cooking in the rice cooker as I’m not sure if it’s enough time for hydrated. 🙂
Hi Nami! Yes, the dried gobo shaves seem to be just dehydrated, like dried shiitake. So I’ll hydrate them before cooking! Thanks a lot for your advice and have a wonderful and hopefully relaxing week-end! 🙂
Hi Julia! Thank you for letting me know. Hope all works out for you! Have a great weekend!
Hi Nami! I hydrated the gobo together with the shiitake, which made a very interesting shiitake-gobo-dashi with nice flavours. I can only recommend it. Thanks again for your help!
Thank you Julia for reporting back! Usually dehydrated products have more flavors so need half of fresh ingredient amount. 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe! I loved the video – it helps so much to see it. I want to make this recipe in the instant pot – do you think that will work?
Hi EJC! I haven’t tried cooking rice yet in my IP (see this post for reason, and a lot of people responded with their experience in cooking rice: https://www.justonecookbook.com/instant-pot-review-recipes/). I feel like Japanese rice will stick a lot on the bottom of the pot as material is not non-stick and you know how sticky Japanese rice is compared to other Asian rice. Let me know if you try. It’ll cook fine for sure, but I just worry about how much rice will be wasted on the bottom of the pot. 🙂
can you use the stove tip instead of a rice cooker? Thanks
Hi Angela! Sure you can, if you have “donabe” that is even tastier!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/how-to-season-your-donabe/
what can i replace with if i do not have gobo and konnyaku?
Thanks.
Hi Stephy! Gobo is root vegetable, so similar texture would be lotus root etc. BUT both gobo and konnyaku (that’s unique ingredient, so it’s nothing similar…) can be omitted and use what you have. Konnyaku is just for texture, so it doesn’t affect much for flavor. Gobo on the other hand has earthy flavor to it. I like it and some may not. A lot of people said they make without it since it’s hard to find. 🙂
Nami, we just ate this for lunch and it was delicious. It was also the first time I used the Mixed rice setting on my rice cooker-so thank you for that. Couldn’t find fresh gobo so substituted with seasoned burdock for sushi rolls. Will definitely be making this again………lei
Hi Lei! I’m so happy you tried this recipe! Your substitute is great, thank you for sharing with other JOC readers! I’m glad you’ll make this again. Thank you!! xoxo
Hi!
This seems sooooo tasty!
Just a doubt: do you think I could freeze this in single portions after cooking it, as I do with normal white rice?
Hi Sara! Thank you! Yes, you can freeze this just like normal white rice. 🙂 Very convenient! Oh, the konnyaku gets a bit different texture, but for me it’s not a big deal (at least to me). 🙂
Just made it with equal parts sprouted brown rice and white rice, chicken, tempeh, carrots, shiitake, porcini mushrooms…topped with green onion..added a bit more dashi than written due to the brown rice…..the dashi gave it so much umami! Perfect for the cold rainy weather in Paris..My 8 year old ate so much I was a bit worried, and gave it a big thumbs up!
Thanks for the recipes, you are my go-to website when I crave Japanese food.
Hi Elim! Wow, thank you so much for trying this recipe in Paris! I’m always excited to hear so many people around the world cook my recipes and it’s amazing! Glad you could adapt the recipe with ingredients you can get. Thank you for sharing it with us! And I’m so happy you like my recipes too. Thank you!! xoxo
Hi Nami..can I replaced the burdock root with onion?
Hi Angie! Sure! I know burdock root can be hard to find… 🙁 Make sure to chop onion into smaller piece or thinly sliced (doesn’t have to be minced). 🙂
Again you keep me more excited about Japanese Cuisine! I haven’t tried out much with cooking rice with other ingredients (thus far only onions or ginger).
Chances are I won’t find all the ingredients you listed, but I find what I can get here and make some Takikomi Gohan 😀 And serve it with a great Japanese marinated fish – I’ll let you know on Facebook when I made it (will though first be next week as this week I already got a full menu planned).
なみ、ありがとうざいます!(Not sure what Kanji your name uses so I was stuck with Hiragana).
Hi Leo! I know these ingredients (root vegetables and konnyaku and deep fried tofu pouch) are very basic Japanese ingredients YET very rare ingredients outside of Japan. So sorry you have hard time finding these ingredients. However, this particular dish is easy to adapt with what you have. You can make it with vegetables you have, as long as you cut thin or small and not the leafy veggies.
I look forward to your FB posts! I recently saw your post and sorry it took me a while to respond. Facebook changed some option and I couldn’t see any of the JOC follower’s posts on FB, but I finally figured it out. 🙂
どうもありがとう! My name is 菜美子.
菜 – yellow flower菜の花 or “vegetables” in Chinese language
美 – beautiful
子 – child
🙂
菜美子 – if I’d translate this directly to English I would end up calling you “beautiful child of the yellow flower” – it’s a very nice name!
I’ve taken note on your tips – cutting it finely is no problem with me, but thanks for the note on avoiding leafy ingredients for this.
Well we all encounter regular Web barriers out of surprise – I remember one FB occasion where I couldn’t post anything. Weird moment!
I like Takikomi Gohan very much ! It is similar to the chinese 有味飯(the chinese mixed rice receipe). I would like to know what is the greyish jelly like thing you put with the burdock. s there any health benefit about this jelly like cooking ingredient?
Hi Amy! It’s called Konnyaku and I explained in this post.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/konjac-konnyaku/
we call this dish in our house Nekomama..essentually translating to “cat food” as we always make it with rice, green onions, aburaage, tuna, and mushrooms. I add some of the juice from the tuna to the water along with dashi when the rice is cooking.
Hi Sandi! Neko Manma! I haven’t heard that word for years! 😀 Yes, it means cat food, and it refers to the leftover food for cat that’s typically rice and katsuobushi or other ingredients, not visually looking good. Sometimes, rice and miso soup mixture is also called Neko Manma too. Your family’s dish sounds delicious, and definitely BEYOND Neko Manma level. 😉
it’s one of my quick go-to favorites. Sometimes we add salted flaked salmon or saba (usually leftovers from another dish), but it always tastes good 🙂 It’s great with shimeji mushrooms too!
I remember having a friend visit, and I gave her a dish of Nekomama. She said it was delicious, and asked what the dish was called. When I told her, she asked what it meant, and looked shocked when I told her “cat food”.. lol
I had to quickly reassure her it wasn’t actually cat-food.. just the name we called it.
LOL! That’s a funny story!!! I think your dishes totally deserve to be called “Maze Gohan” at least since Neko Manma tends to have a negative connotation. 😉
no negative connotations in our house with the name Nekomama..lol… we have two cats named Mochi and Manju, and they are all about the fish!
=^..^=
Aww! Their names are SO cute! 🙂 <3
Ah, takikomi gohan! Yes, this is such the comfort food, especially as a reminder it’s “fall” in places like Southern California where we’re having Indian Summer with temps in the 90s!
Looking forward to other seasonal takikomi gohan recipes. In the meantime, guess what I’m making this weekend…
Hi Veronica! I was in Arizona recently (2 weeks ago) and it was over 100F. Now SF is around 50-60F and I finally feel like I can eat fall dishes. It’s windy and chilly these days. 🙂 Yes, I’ll try to work on more “seasonal” dishes. I’m so bad at planning ahead (I need to work 3 weeks ahead so videos and everything is done before posting), so you rarely see seasonal dishes here. =P