Green Tea Rice (Japanese Ochazuke)
Japanese ochazuke: Dragonfly Pure Green Mountain poured over warm rice with nori, umeboshi or salmon, sesame and spring onion.
Ochazuke is one of the simplest, most comforting things you can do with Green Tea: hot tea poured over a bowl of warm rice, with a few savoury toppings on top. It is a Japanese home dish, traditionally a way to use up the rice left over from dinner. Here a bag of Dragonfly Organic Pure Green Mountain is brewed at 80C and poured straight over the bowl.
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Green Tea Rice (Japanese Ochazuke) recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/green tea/green tea rice japanese ochazuke/
The toppings are up to you, but a few classics work best: torn toasted nori, a salty umeboshi plum or some flaked grilled salmon, a scatter of sesame and sliced spring onion. It sits somewhere between a soup and a light supper, eaten with chopsticks and a spoon, and is quietly restorative at the end of a long day.
You'll need
- 1 Dragonfly Organic Pure Green Mountain pyramid bag
- 200ml freshly drawn water (used at 80C, off boil and stood 2 minutes)
- 150g cooked Japanese short grain or sushi rice, warm (leftover rice from dinner is correct, reheated gently if refrigerated)
- 1 sheet nori seaweed, lightly toasted and torn into small pieces
- 1 small umeboshi pickled plum, OR 30g flaked grilled salmon, OR 30g shredded poached chicken
- 1/2 tsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 thin spring onion, finely sliced (the green parts work best here)
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce or tamari
- A small pinch of fine sea salt
Method
- Boil the kettle, then let it stand for two minutes to drop to around 80C.
- Meanwhile, put the warm cooked rice in the bottom of a deep bowl, filling it about a third of the way.
- Arrange the toppings on the rice: an umeboshi plum in the centre, or flaked salmon or shredded chicken scattered across, then the torn nori, sesame seeds and spring onion over the top.
- Drop the tea bag into a small heatproof jug and pour the 80C water over it.
- Cover and steep for two to three minutes, no longer, so the brew stays clean and bright rather than bitter.
- Lift the bag out and discard, without pressing it; a squeezed bag would make the broth bitter.
- Pour the hot tea over the bowl in a steady stream, filling it about three quarters, so the brew comes up to just below the toppings rather than covering them.
- Drizzle the soy sauce or tamari over the surface and season with a small pinch of salt.
- Eat straight away: pick off the toppings first, then break the rice into the broth with your spoon and finish it like a light soup.
Want the background, not just the brew?
Brewed with: Dragonfly Organic Pure Green Mountain, 40 Tea Bags 80g
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