• Before You Start…Please note that this recipe requires 20 minutes of soaking rice time.

  Gather all the ingredients. Rinse 2¼ cups uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice until the water is almost clear. If you‘re not sure how to rinse the rice properly, see the rinsing section of my tutorial How to Make Rice. Drain well in a fine-mesh strainer, shaking off the water out. Transfer to the inner bowl of the rice cooker. Tip: If you don‘t have a rice cooker, see how to cook short-grain rice with a pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
  
• Peel 1 gobo (burdock root). Cut it in half lengthwise, then thinly slice it diagonally.
  
• In a medium bowl, soak the gobo in water for 15 minutes to prevent it from changing color. Change the water a few times and drain well.
  
• Peel 1 carrot. Cut it in half lengthwise and slice thinly. Cut 2 pieces chikuwa (fish cake) into thin pieces.
  
• In a small bowl, combine 4 Tbsp soy sauce, 3 Tbsp miso, 2 Tbsp mirin, and 1 Tbsp sake and mix well. Pour the seasonings into the rice cooker.
  
• Mix well, and then add water up to the 3-cup line on the inner bowl.
  
• Add the gobo root, carrot, and chikuwa on top of the rice. Do not mix together with rice. Rice cooks evenly when it‘s not mixed with other ingredients. Place in the rice cooker, let the rice soak for 20 minutes, and then start cooking. If you have a Mixed Rice option, use it (see Notes below).
  
• When the rice is done cooking, wait 10 minutes before you open the rice cooker to allow it to finish steaming. Mix well and serve the Takikomi Gohan with yuzu kosho (Japanese citrus chili paste) for spicy taste and garnish with shredded nori seaweed (kizami nori).
  

To Store

• You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the freezer for a month. I prefer freezing the cooked rice to refrigerating it. You can read more about it in my tutorial How to Store Cooked Rice.