‘Takikomigohan’ is a Japanese dish of Rice that is cooked with other ingredients and seasonings. If you have a rice cooker, it is super easy to cook. Today I tried to create a Seafood Takikomigohan that looks and tastes like Seafood Paella. Mussels need to be cooked separately to make the Soup to cook Rice, and that requires an extra effort, but it is still very easy using a rice cooker.

Makes

4 Servings

Ingredients

2 cups (*180ml cup) Short OR Medium Grain Rice
1/2 Onion *finely chopped
1/2 Red Capsicum *cut into bite-size pieces
8 Green Beans *about 50g, cut into 4-5cm in length
300-400g Seafood *Today I used 4 large Whole Prawns and 1 Squid Tube
Salt & Black Pepper
1 tablespoon chopped Parsley

Soup
8-12 Mussels
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic *finely chopped
1/2 cup Sake (Rice Wine) OR White Wine
1 Chicken Stock Cube *broken into small pieces
2-3 tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 teaspoon Ground Paprika
Water
1/8 teaspoon Salt *alter the amount, you might need no Salt
Black Pepper

Method
  1. Wash Rice and soak in clean water for 30 minutes OR while you are preparing other ingredients.
  2. Clean Mussels and prepare properly. Heat Olive Oil and Garlic in a frying pan over medium heat. When aromatic, add Mussels add Sake (Rice Wine) OR White Wine, and cook until Mussels are open.
  3. Transfer the Mussels to a plate, cover, and set aside. Pour the liquid into a measuring jug. Add Stock Cube, Tomato Paste and Paprika, and add Water up to 430ml marking. Add Salt & Pepper as required, mix well, and set aside.
  4. Prepare Vegetables.
  5. Prepare other Seafood. If you cook Whole Prawns, use a toothpick OR skewer to remove dark vein. Cut Squid Tube into the size that is easy to eat and lightly season with Salt & Pepper.
  6. Drain the Rice very well and place in the rice cooker’s inner pot. Scatter finely chopped Onion, then arrange Capsicum and Beans.

  7. Place Seafood on top. Today I placed Prawns and Squid pieces. Pour the soup over, but DO NOT stir. Set the rice cooker at ‘Quick Cook’ mode if your rice cooker has it, and press ‘COOK’ button to start cooking.

  8. When the Rice is cooked, let it steamed for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate, arrange Seafood and cooked Mussels on top, sprinkle with Parsley, add serve. *Note: You can serve with Lemon wedges.