The weekend came and I felt much better and wanted to eat something substantial that would give me sustenance but not anything heavy or rich to exacerbate my delicate little (not-so-little) tum-tums. It also has been so cold in NYC that I wanted something comforting. My tastebuds told me they wanted to eat maze (ma-zay) gohan or chirashi zushi or also mixed rice. It's sushi-flavored rice without the fish on top but braised vegetables mixed within. I call it Not-Fried Rice. A meal by itself.
My mom makes a mean maze gohan so I called her and got the gist of the recipe and made it myself. Winged it here and there but managed to not ruin it. Mom's was a bit better. The key is what you put into it. Typically it is a mixture of complementary colors, tastes, and textures. I put in shittake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, lotus root, and carrots. You then braise it in shoyu, sugar, mirin and dashi. Then add it to a hot rice mixture after it has been seasoned with su (rice wine vinegar/sugar syrup). I then added peas, thinly sliced omelette, shrimp flakes and nori as a garnish. Goes well with some nicely fried fish, chicken, tofu or just by itself. Thanks Mom.
Oishii so! Hai, itadakimasu.
