Directions:
- Rinse dried shiitake mushrooms and place in a mixing bowl with half of the water (100ml). Soak for 1-2 hours.
- Wipe the surface of the kelp with a damp cloth and place it in the other bowl with the rest of the water. Soak for 1-2 hours.
- Wash the rice and allow it to soak for 30 minutes. There is no need to measure this water as it will be discarded.
- Wash the maitake mushrooms and separate them into small pieces by hand.
- Remove shiitake mushroom and kelp from their bowls allowing as much water as possible to drain out. You may discard the shiitake and kelp, or save them to use in other recipes. Combine the shiitake water and the kelp water in one of the bowls and add the soy sauce, cooking sake, and salt and mix well.
- Add the maitake mushrooms to the liquid and toss to coat.
- Strain the rice and add it to the rice cooker.
- Strain the maitake mushrooms, reserving the shiitake/kelp liquid mixture. Add the maitake mushrooms to the rice cooker.
- Measure the shiitake/kelp liquid. Dilute the shiitake/kelp liquid until you have 395 ml of liquid. Pour this into the rice cooker and press the start button.
As the rice cooks, you will start to smell a rich and delicious maitake aroma. Once the rice cooker beeps, be sure to wait at least another 5-10 minutes before opening the machine. Give your rice a fluff using a rice paddle or fork and it's ready to eat.
Enjoy your maitake rice by making onigiri to pack in your lunch bag, or make it an easy dinner by topping a bowl of maitake rice with an egg cooked any way you like and some OKAZU.
You can buy OKAZU online.
