Okowa おこわ (強飯) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

steamed rice dish made with glutinous rice mixed with meat or vegetables. It is sometimes combined with wild herbs (sansai okowa) and vessel chestnuts (kuri okowa). It is generally boiled glutinous rice blended with Azuki beans to give it red color for festive look, made by boiling regular rice with Azuki beans."Kibo ("Brimming with Hope"): Recipes and Stories from Japan's Tohoku", Elizabeth Andoh, Since Okowa is meant to be eaten at room temperature, it is used to make

onigiri , also known as , , or rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes and often wrapped in ''nori''. Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume (''umeboshi''), salted salmon, katsuob ...

for its capacity to be frozen well.

Etymology

The word Okowa in

stems from a shortened form of Kowameshi (meaning "hard rice"). Sometimes, dishes made by blending different rice varieties is also known as Okowa.

History

Originally referred to plain glutinous rice made in steam, Okowa today refers to red rice called

Sekihan Red bean rice, called ''patbap'' () in Korean, ''sekihan'' () in Japanese, and ''hóngdòu fàn'' () in Chinese, is an East Asian rice dish consisting of rice cooked with red beans. East Asian varieties China Hóngdòu fàn (红豆饭) is ...

. White steamed rice is called by another name.

Variations

Okowa can be mixed with any kind of meat or vegetable composition, kept with the basic rice and different flavors. Some traditional accompaniments, include, sweet potato, chestnuts (pre-cooked),

bamboo shoot Bamboo shoots or bamboo sprouts are the edible shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of many bamboo species including ''Bambusa vulgaris'' and ''Phyllostachys edulis''. They are used as vegetables in numerous Asian dishes and ...

(boiled). Char siu pork, roasted duck or diced

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

are also common additions. Other methods of cooking rice, includes, the

kayu Congee or conjee ( ) is a type of rice porridge or gruel eaten in Asian countries. It can be eaten plain, where it is typically served with side dishes, or it can be served with ingredients such as meat, fish, seasonings and flavourings, most ...

, the

dango is a Japanese dumpling made from rice flour mixed with uruchi rice flour and glutinous rice flour. It is different from the method of making mochi, which is made after steaming glutinous rice. ''Dango'' is usually finished round shaped, three ...

, the ojiya, the

mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ma ...

, and the

sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...

Method to prepare Okowa Riceballs

The ingredients used for making Okowa riceballs, include, Glutinous rice (short-grain),

sesame oil Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. ...

dashi is a family of stocks used in Japanese cuisine. ''Dashi'' forms the base for miso soup, clear broth soup, noodle broth soup, and many simmering liquids to accentuate the savory flavor known as umami. ''Dashi'' is also mixed into the flour b ...

, soy sauce,

mirin is a type of rice wine and a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. It is similar to sake but with a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content. The sugar content is a complex carbohydrate that forms naturally during the fermentation pro ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

, ginger, chopped

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

s and carrots, sweet potato, chestnuts,

spring onions Scallions (also known as spring onions or green onions) are vegetables derived from various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions and their close relatives include garlic, shallot, leek, chi ...

, cooked

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

, and a sheet of

nori Nori is a dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, made from species of the red algae genus '' Pyropia'', including ''P. yezonesis'' and '' P. tenera''. It has a strong and distinctive flavor, and is often used to wrap rolls of sushi or ...

. The rice is washed with water and is left to be drained for around thirty minutes. Rice is added along with the stock,

, sesame oil, salt, sake in a rice cooker and it is left for another thirty minutes. Meat, vegetables and ginger are added next and the cooker is put to the short-grain rice setting. The lid is covered while using the saucepan and brought to the boil once before turning the flame to low for another twelve minutes. The flame is turned off and the rice is steamed another for ten minutes. The rice is kept in the room temperature and shaped into small triangles or balls. Finally, the base of rice balls is wrapped with nori sheet.

References

{{Rice dishes Japanese cuisine Japanese rice dishes

Etymology

History

Variations

Method to prepare Okowa Riceballs

See also

References