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Home ► Recipes ► Low-Sugar

Mushroom Doria (Mushroom Rice Casserole)

Updated: 05.21.24 | Marc Matsumoto | 3 Comments

5 from 2 votes
Doria, a staple of Japanese home-cooking, is a marvelously comforting rice casserole covered in a bubbling layer of creamy béchamel sauce topped with a crisp sheet of browned cheese. For this recipe, I've mashed up Doria with Green Bean Casserole to come up with an easy make-ahead dish that's perfect for an autumn potluck or holiday feast.
Recipe Video
Doria is a comforting Japanese mushroom and rice casserole with a crisp layer of browned cheese covering a molten sea of bechamel sauce.
What is Doria?

Although it sounds Western, Doria (ドリア) is a uniquely Japanese dish that was created by a Swiss chef in Japan in the 1930's. Traditionally it was made by layering rice with seafood and then covering it with a blanket of creamy béchamel sauce. This was then topped with a layer of cheese that was melted and browned in a hot oven. It's cheap, comforting, and satisfying, which has made it a staple of home cooking. 

Ironically, Doria is considered a Western-style dish in Japan, so most Japanese people are surprised when they learn it doesn't exist in the culinary repertoire of other countries. 

What are some variations of Doria?

Although Doria started out as a rice gratin, these days, the name is used to refer to almost any dish that has a layer of rice, a layer of sauce, and a layer of cheese. The rice layer can be plain, pilaf, or fried rice. The sauce can be anything from stew, to meat sauce, to curry, and the cheese can be anything that melts. Green Bean and Mushroom Doria topped with fried onions and parsley.

How do I make Mushroom Doria?

The main component of this Doria is the mushroom and green bean béchamel, and while it's not complicated, there are a few tricks to ensure it goes well. The first thing is to saute the mushrooms and onions thoroughly. This results in Maillard browning, which creates layers of flavors that tastes more complex than the basic ingredients this is made from. 

Once the mushrooms have started to caramelize, they go into a bowl while you make the béchamel sauce. Don't let the French name scare you; it's just a creamy gravy made with a butter and flour roux and milk. The trick here is rapidly cool the roux by turning down the heat and dumping in the cold milk. This keeps the flour from cooking too quickly, giving you a chance to dissolve the roux in the milk for a smooth sauce that's free of lumps. The green beans, which I blanch first, get added into the sauce at the end, along with the sauteed mushrooms. 

This gets assembled in a buttered casserole dish with a layer of rice, topped with the green bean and mushroom béchamel, and then finally a layer of cheese. I like using a mixture of Gruyere for flavor and Mozzarella for stretch, but you can use almost any cheese that melts, such as Fontina, or Raclette. 

As for the oven, you want it to be hot enough to get a nice browned crust on top, but not so hot that the cheese starts burning before the rice is reheated, and the sauce is bubbly. 

Finally, I like to top this particular Doria with some fried onions, which not only adds a crisp texture on top, it also fortifies the flavor of the caramelized onions in the sauce.

What kind of mushrooms can I use for this Doria?

I've kept it pretty simple with a mix of button mushrooms and shimeji mushrooms, but you can use almost any mushroom with a lot of flavor, like Maitake, Chanterelle, Black Trumpet, or Porcinis. Under the bubbling sea of creamy mushroom and green bean bechmel and cheese lies a hearty bed of rice.

Can I add chicken or seafood to this Doria?

I've made this Doria vegetarian, but it's fairly easy to add shrimp, chicken or some other protein to this. When you add it, depends on how long it takes to cook. For example, if you're using chicken, you'll probably want to brown the chicken first in the pan before you saute the mushrooms (and then transfer it to a bowl while you brown the mushrooms). If you're using a fast-cooking protein such as shrimp or fish, you can probably add into the béchamel before you assemble the Doria.

How can I make vegan Doria?

Because there's tons of flavor imparted by sauteing the onions and mushrooms, it's fairly easy to make this plant-based. Just replace the butter with coconut oil for all the components, substitute your favorite plant-based milk, and add a little nutritional yeast to the béchamel. As for the cheese on top, you can either top it with coconut oiled panko breadcrumbs, or make a plant-based parmesan cheese with walnuts, nutritional yeast, and salt ground up in a food processor to sprinkle on top. 

Can I make Doria ahead of time?

Doria is great for parties and potlucks because you can assemble it ahead and time and then bake it just before serving it to ensure the cheese is gooey, and the béchamel is piping hot.

Other Rice Dishes

  • Takikomi Gohan
  • Japanese Salmon Rice
  • Oyster Rice (Kaki Meshi)
  • Chicken Coconut Rice

📖 Recipe

Green Bean and Mushroom Doria topped with fried onions and parsley.

Mushroom Doria (Mushroom Rice Casserole)

By: Marc Matsumoto
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Yield 4 servings
YouTube video

Units

Ingredients 

for casserole

  • 1 teaspoon cultured unsalted butter
  • 350 grams cooked rice (1 rice cooker cup)
  • 100 grams Gruyere cheese (or other melting cheese, grated)
  • Fried onions (for garnish)

for filling

  • 180 grams green beans
  • 1 tablespoon cultured unsalted butter
  • 100 grams onions
  • 120 grams button mushrooms
  • 100 grams shimeji mushrooms (beech mushrooms)
  • 1 teaspoon salt

for bechamél

  • 1 tablespoon cultured unsalted butter
  • 25 grams flour (about 2 ½ tablespoons)
  • 1 ½ cups milk

Instructions

  • Butter a 10-inch casserole dish using about a teaspoon of butter. Move the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 C).
    Buttering casserole dish for making Doria.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and the whole green beans.
    Boiling green beans for Doria.
  • Blanch the beans by bringing the water back up to a full. Drain the beans and rinse them under cold water to chill them enough to handle.
    Chilled blanched green beans.
  • Trim the stem ends off of the beans and chop them up into 1.5-inch lengths.
    Chopped blanched green beans on cutting board.
  • Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the onions, button mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, and salt until the mushrooms are starting to caramelize (about 6-7 minutes).
    Sauteeing mix of Button and Shimeji Mushrooms.
  • Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the pan along with the flour. Cook the roux until there are no lumps of flour, but don't let it brown.
    Cooking flour and butter roux in frying pan.
  • Turn down the heat and pour the milk in at once. Stir the mixture vigorously until there are no lumps of roux remaining.
    Making white béchamel sauce.
  • Turn up the heat to medium and bring the béchamel to a boil to thicken. Add the sauteed mushrooms as well as the green beans to the pan, and stir to distribute evenly.
    Green beans and sautéed mushrooms in béchamel sauce.
  • To assemble the Doria, spread an even layer of rice along the bottom of the buttered casserole dish.
    Layer of rice in buttered casserole dish.
  • Top with the mushroom and green bean béchamel.
    Green bean and mushroom béchamel layered over rice to make Doria.
  • Cover with an even layer of shredded cheese.
    Assembled Doria with cheese on top.
  • Put the Doria in the oven and bake until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese has browned on top, about 15-20 minutes.
    Doria baking in the oven.
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Nutrition Facts

Calories • 394kcalCarbohydrates • 42gProtein • 16gFat • 18gSaturated Fat • 11gCholesterol • 54mgSodium • 714mgPotassium • 475mgFiber • 3gSugar • 8gVitamin A • 902IUVitamin C • 8mgCalcium • 387mgIron • 1mg

Comments

    5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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  1. Maria says

    February 15, 2021 at 4:53 am

    Hi Marc, not sure if it makes much sense to comment at all since I didn't exactly follow your recipe, but it at least inspired me because I had leftover rice and mushrooms and thought of making doria. They were king oyster mushrooms so I fried them in butter with onions and deglazed with wine, and made a bechamel and mixed that without green beans. I topped with cheddar cheese because it's what I had and baked in the oven at 220°C - the rice was not very hot but still okay. Overall it was good, thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      February 15, 2021 at 8:50 am

      Hi Maria, thanks for sharing your variation. Doria is meant to be flexible (in Japan people will even make it with leftover meat sauce), so nice substitutions! As for the temperature, I used room temperature rice, if you used rice straight from the fridge, it might take a little longer. Also the thermostats on most ovens tend to be off by a significant margin, so it's possible your oven runs a little cooler than mine (mine runs +15 to -10 C from the target temperature as it cycles).

      Reply
  2. 婚书网 says

    December 02, 2019 at 5:22 pm

    已加入收藏夹,时不时的来看看有没有更新博文!

    Reply
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