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.
Greetings from Singapore 🙂
These were so well received by my toddler and husband. Thank you for the recipe to this simple yet tasty dish!
I use a stainless steel pot (stovetop) to make the gohan. I’m not sure whether I cooked it for a tad too long, there was a layer of burnt rice on the inside of the pot after 12 minutes. Would be be able to give me some pointers?
Thanks again!
Jasmine
Hi Jasmine! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! Is it a light stainless steel pot? It usually has a hot spot and ideally it’s best to use a heavy bottom pot (like Dutch oven) or donabe to make rice. Or lower the heat toward the end a bit? Soy sauce burns the bottom easily too, compared to regular steamed rice. 🙂
Hi Nami – this looks a lovely recipe! To get the rice-to-other-ingredient balance right for 2 people, I’d like to try making your original quantity for 4 people, and freezing half the dish. Do you have any tips on best ways to freeze this dish, and also to reheat it after freezing? I’ve never frozen a rice dish before, and don’t have a microwave. Thank you! : )
Btw, I love the new feature for changing number of servings on your recipes – it saves a whole lot of effort (and sometimes mistakes!) in re-scaling quantities. Million thanks!!!
Hi J! Thank you! You can freeze this just like the regular white rice.
For freezing and reheating rice info is here: https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-freeze-rice/
Microwaving is an easy method for reheating the leftover food, but since you don’t have it, you have to re-steam it in the pot (or steamer). 🙂
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
And guess what, I have this scaling quantity function for years… 😀 Recently someone else also mentioned if I *just* installed. LOL. I’m glad it’s helpful! I wish it’s more obvious, but maybe my font color is not obvious enough…
Wow, hi, Nami, and thank you so much for your incredibly quick reply! Your rice blog post answered all my questions. I’ll likely try making this dish tomorrow – a stay-home version (with some variants in ingredients) – see how it turns out : )
Oops, well, better late than never in finding the quantity function haha! I actually just happened to mouseover the quantity, and thought it was new because I remembered reading that someone had asked for it in this year’s JOC anniversary competition user comments, perhaps the same reader you mentioned, haha ; )
Yes, I do see the hyperlink colour on the quantity now! Maybe larger font and normal typeface could give it a touch more visual emphasis? Either way, a great feature – arigato gozaimashita : )
Hi Naomi,
My version is now in the rice cooker, currently cooking as I’m writing this, the only difference being, it’s a “Westernized” fusion version. I had lots of frozen broccoli/cauliflower/carrot leftover from the freezer, so I added those to shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots to get in enough Oriental flavor. I also have a slab of round steak which I intend to cook separately and mix in with the rice after it’s cooked.
I’m just worried that I mixed a lot of dashi powder with the shiitake dashi. I hope it doesn’t turn out too salty.
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Hi Allan! The vegetables you added have some moisture in it, so even though you added a lot of dashi powder, it might be okay… I hope it turned out well.
Hi J! Thanks for the feedback. I will consider making it more visible in our next website update! 🙂
Thanks, Nami! I’ve since found the recipe quantity can also be changed on another (non-Japanese!) recipe website I’ve been occasionally using for a while, so the problem likely lies more with me (fairly newbie cook, quite obviously…) haha! Anyway, thank you – I appreciate how positively you always respond to our experiences and ideas. Wishing you smiles and a sunny heart : )
Thank you J! 🙂 oxox
Hi Nami, I had this in Hokkaido last year and suddenly had a craving for it this week. So happy to find it on your blog 🙂 Can I use fresh shiitake mushrooms to make this recipe?
Hi Laura! Sure you can use fresh shiitake mushrooms (it has less shiitake taste). FYI, you don’t have to do Step 4 with fresh shiitake mushrooms. 🙂 Enjoy the recipe! Hope it’s similar to what you had in Hokkaido. 🙂
niceeee
Thank you Nancy!
I’ve been living in Japan for awhile and decided to finally try my hand at making Japanese dishes. This was my first one (that I made by myself) and it turned out great!! This was my first time using gobo and now I love it. I’ve made this recipe twice so far, and I’m sure I’ll make it many more times!! Thanks Nami!
Hi Katie! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks so much for trying this recipe! How’s your life in Japan so far. The good thing is… you have all the ingredients you need to make all my recipes. 😉 Hope you enjoy the autumn weather in Japan!
[…] Takikomi Gohan (Mixed Rice) […]
Dear Nami-san,
I was in Japan for three weeks and this was our Sunday lunch. The people I stayed with told me it was one of the “Japanese soul food” dishes. Missing so much of the delicious food I ate in Japan, I’m grateful to have found your recipe. Tasted almost exactly like what I had; so delicious!
Arigatougozaimashita!
Lisa
Hi Lisa! Welcome back, and I hope you had a great trip to Japan. Yeah… food tastes amazing in Japan, and I always have difficulty in getting back to the routine in the US after eating such delicious food every day. I think the quality of ingredients is better; even though I make a same dish, I feel like it’s not the same! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I made an all mushroom version and it was delicious! Plenty left over for onigiri, too.
Hi Regan! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe with all mushrooms! Onigiri must be so good… 🙂
I made the rice according to instructions with the omission of devil’s tongue jelly. DELICIOUS!! We also had grilled mackerel, spinach ohitashi and miso soup. Everything was great. But my kitchen looks a mess 😀 xo
Hi Linda! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Wow, your meal sounds amazing! Very washoku (Japanese style meal)!!!! LOL. I would go help clean up if I could join your dinner! I always prefer eating and dishwashing than cooking. 😉
[…] Takikomi Gohan (Mixed Rice) […]
Hi Nami!
What measurements would be different if I make your takikomi Gohan recipe on the stovetop using a clay Kamadosan rice Donabe pot? Do I use exactly the same measurements? And also what would the cooking instructions time be? Can I cook takikomi Gohan exactly the same as cooking regular Gohan in the Kamadosan?
Do you know if there is a basic strategy for converting a Japanese’s rice cooker recipe into cooking with a Kamadosan cooking vessel? I know this style of cooking rice is getting more popular but recipes are very limited and I am not very experienced in regards to cooking rice recipes on the stovetop. Please help me or can you possibly add cooking directions for a stovetop rice Kamadosan when you post your rice recipes using an electric rice pot??
Would love to learn how to make stovetop. Iced rice using Mochi kome like azuki bean red rice or a mixed sansai vegetable rice using Mochi kome!
Thank you for all the great recipes and videos! Can’t get enough of them!
Hi Teresa! I have a great recipe source for you!
https://toirokitchen.com/blogs/recipes
I bought my kamadosan from her shop in Los Angeles. She is awesome, sharing many recipes!
[…] 3. Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Mixed Rice) 炊き込みご飯 […]
[…] Gohan cooked in a rice cooker/instant […]
I don’t have a rice cooker. Can you make this same recipe in a large pot in top of the stove?
Hi Arrie! Yes you can. Follow the same cooking method as this recipe: https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-cook-rice/
There’s a Malaysian-Chinese dish that’s similar, and we use garlic, shallots, dried shrimp, fresh yam and oyster sauce and cook it in a claypot. I don’t have a claypot myself so I’ve tried cooking in both a rice cooker and in a pan (like paella) and I find that the latter gives better results with more crispy yam and rice bits. I’ll give yours a try as I’ve never had this type of konnyaku before!
Hi Deb! Oh that sounds delicious! I actually cook my rice and mixed rice in donabe (Japanese clay pot) for a while because it makes amazing rice. I understand what you mean about the crispy yam and rice bits! I go for that for sure!! Hope you enjoy this recipe! xo