Kamameshi is rice cooked in a cast iron pot along with a flavored broth and some other goodies. It's similar to takenoko gohan and takikomi gohan, except the pot it's cooked in encourages the bottom layer of rice to lightly burn (known as "okoge" in Japanese), giving it a nice flavor reminiscent of rice crackers.
Unfortunately, I don't have a kama (iron pot) and I imagine most of my readers don't either, so I made this using a small Le Creuset (enameled cast iron pot). You could probably use any heavy bottomed pot with a lid you have as long as it's not teflon.
The rice cooks with a sweet soy sauce flavored broth and is topped with a layer of mitsuba (which I talk about more in this post) and unagi while it steams. After it's all done, I mix it all together before serving which helps integrate all the flavors.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice cooker short grain Japanese rice (360 ml or about 1.5 US cups)
- ⅓ Cup bamboo chopped Japanese (takenoko)
- 1 ⅔ Cups dashi stock
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 tablespoon evaporated cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ Cup mitsuba roughly chopped
- 1 package unagi grilled (eel)
Instructions
- Rinse the rice by filling the bowl containing the rice with cold water then draining and repeat until the water is almost clear. Drain the water using a colander.
- In a heavy iron pot with a lid, bring the dashi, sugar, mirin and soy sauce to a boil.
- Add the bamboo and rice and let it return to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to low, cooking until you don't see any more steam escaping, about 15 minutes.
- Add the mitsuba and unagi on top of the rice, turn off the heat, cover and allow it to steam for 10 minutes.
- Break up the unagi and fold it into the rice then serve immediately with some Japanese pickles.
Sodamoeba says
Hmm, this one's showing up in Vegan, too. Sorry to spam the comments section with this.
Tartlette says
My aut's specialty was eel and watercress soup all creamy all good..:)
I just can't find eel here except in sushi....living vicariously through you Marc!
Tartlette says
My aut's specialty was eel and watercress soup all creamy all good..:)
I just can't find eel here except in sushi....living vicariously through you Marc!
Coffee and Vanilla says
Hi Marc,
Thank you for your visiting my site and your comment on Physalis, I replied here:
https://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=2280
Wonderful site! I'm glad to discover it 🙂
Margot
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Heather!
Sharon, the grilled unagi I used actually has the "yummy unagi sauce" on it.
Manggy, I'm not sure what part of the world you're in, but here in NYC you can get a whole grilled unagi for about $6.
Thanks Diva, I love my Le Creuset, I use it for everything! It even makes a great weight when I'm curing fish or making pickles.
Jeff, hope you were able to find some eel.
Thanks Noble Pig and Veron
Joyce, I'm glad I could help:-) Any other mystery dishes you've been trying to figure out?
Laura, you do eat the bamboo. Bamboo shoots are tender and edible when they are young.
Scott, eel's great. It's not fishy at all, but people who don't like it usually complain about 2 things. First, it's got a ton of little bones that are edible, but some people have issues with this. Also it's very oily, so some people don't dig that. If you're cool with either of those things, give it a go.
Kevin, you're in Toronto right? Based on a quick Google search it looks like there's a Japanese market called Sanko in downtown Toronto. Otherwise, other asian markets might have it in their frozen food section (they usually come in flat vacuum sealed packs.
cakewardrobe, it's the best part isn't it?
Coffee and Vanilla says
Hi Marc,
Thank you for your visiting my site and your comment on Physalis, I replied here:
https://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=2280
Wonderful site! I'm glad to discover it 🙂
Margot
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Heather!
Sharon, the grilled unagi I used actually has the "yummy unagi sauce" on it.
Manggy, I'm not sure what part of the world you're in, but here in NYC you can get a whole grilled unagi for about $6.
Thanks Diva, I love my Le Creuset, I use it for everything! It even makes a great weight when I'm curing fish or making pickles.
Jeff, hope you were able to find some eel.
Thanks Noble Pig and Veron
Joyce, I'm glad I could help:-) Any other mystery dishes you've been trying to figure out?
Laura, you do eat the bamboo. Bamboo shoots are tender and edible when they are young.
Scott, eel's great. It's not fishy at all, but people who don't like it usually complain about 2 things. First, it's got a ton of little bones that are edible, but some people have issues with this. Also it's very oily, so some people don't dig that. If you're cool with either of those things, give it a go.
Kevin, you're in Toronto right? Based on a quick Google search it looks like there's a Japanese market called Sanko in downtown Toronto. Otherwise, other asian markets might have it in their frozen food section (they usually come in flat vacuum sealed packs.
cakewardrobe, it's the best part isn't it?
cakewardrobe says
I usually push all my rice to the side so that all of it is crispy! I love it!!!
Kevin (Closet Cooking) says
That looks really good. I have been wanting to try cooking unagi at home but I have been unable to find it so far.
Scott at Realepicurean says
For some reason I've never had eel but would love to try it. Your recipe looks delicious, by the way.
Laura @ Hungry and Frozen says
That looks so delicious. Love the cooking method. Glad you had fun in Texas! I'm guessing you don't eat the bamboo? 😉
cakewardrobe says
I usually push all my rice to the side so that all of it is crispy! I love it!!!
Kevin (Closet Cooking) says
That looks really good. I have been wanting to try cooking unagi at home but I have been unable to find it so far.
joyce says
This is exactly what I am looking for. I ate this in the restaurant once and it was SO good, now I can make it at home..THANK YOU SOO SOO MUCH!!!! YOU ARE WONDERFUL!!!
Scott at Realepicurean says
For some reason I've never had eel but would love to try it. Your recipe looks delicious, by the way.
veron says
I love unagi. It's my favorite dish to order in a japanese restaurant. So you can just imagine how much I'm drooling over this!
Laura @ Hungry and Frozen says
That looks so delicious. Love the cooking method. Glad you had fun in Texas! I'm guessing you don't eat the bamboo? 😉
noble pig says
Holey moley, I'm in a trance...just beautiful!
Jeff says
drool.....eel.
Looks awesome and I just checked Mr. Magic 8-ball and he says a trip to the Asian market (the joy of a smaller town we have a Asian market) is in my immediate future.
diva says
firstly, le creuset rules. secondly, that broth sounds fantastic! imagine it gives the rice so much flavour. lastly, unagi is delicious. although we usually just have it with plain white rice. oh well....;)
joyce says
This is exactly what I am looking for. I ate this in the restaurant once and it was SO good, now I can make it at home..THANK YOU SOO SOO MUCH!!!! YOU ARE WONDERFUL!!!
veron says
I love unagi. It's my favorite dish to order in a japanese restaurant. So you can just imagine how much I'm drooling over this!
manggy says
Oboy, this is a painfully delicious reminder of how long it's been since I've had kamameshi... :P`````
I love eel! I just wish it weren't so expensive :/
noble pig says
Holey moley, I'm in a trance...just beautiful!
Jeff says
drool.....eel.
Looks awesome and I just checked Mr. Magic 8-ball and he says a trip to the Asian market (the joy of a smaller town we have a Asian market) is in my immediate future.
sharon says
Wow, that looks amazing. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never had eel that's not draped in that yummy eel sauce. I'd love to try this!
Heather says
Oishi! Gah, why have I not found your blog until now? It's a good one, and one I'll hafta keep an eye on.
diva says
firstly, le creuset rules. secondly, that broth sounds fantastic! imagine it gives the rice so much flavour. lastly, unagi is delicious. although we usually just have it with plain white rice. oh well....;)
manggy says
Oboy, this is a painfully delicious reminder of how long it's been since I've had kamameshi... :P`````
I love eel! I just wish it weren't so expensive :/
sharon says
Wow, that looks amazing. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never had eel that's not draped in that yummy eel sauce. I'd love to try this!
Heather says
Oishi! Gah, why have I not found your blog until now? It's a good one, and one I'll hafta keep an eye on.