• Prepare all the ingredients.
  
  
• Wash the 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 and discard the water. Repeat this process about 3-4 times.
  
  
• Let the rice soak in water for 30-60 minutes. This helps the rice absorb the seasonings later on and become more tender and moist after cooking. Transfer the rice into a sieve and drain completely for at least 15 minutes. Place the washed and drained rice in the rice cooker.
  
• Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients. Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in the 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 cups of water to a boil. Place the konnyaku in the boiling water and cook for 1 minute to get rid of any odor. Transfer the konnyaku to a plate to cool. Add the aburaage 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 gobo skin 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 1½ inches (3.8 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 the 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 the 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 (360 ml) of liquid for 4 servings.
  
• Now your ingredients are ready!
  
• Add the soy sauce and mirin 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 and 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.
  
• 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.