Gohan Zoshui

Japenese Soup Rice

Pat Chapman's 250 Hot and Spicy Dishes

This recipe includes a selection of tasty treasures from the Japanese kitchen: shoba (buckwheat noodles), wakame (dry seaweed strands), wasabi (green horseradish powder), santaka (red chillies) and mirin (sweet wine) or sake (dry wine). You should be able to obtain them from Chinese or Japanese shops.

Serves 4 as a starter

Ingredients

2oz (50g) short-grain rice

2oz (50g) shoba (buckwheat noodles)

2 tablespoons wakame seaweed, shredded

2 teaspoons wasabi (green horseradish powder)

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

4floz (120ml) mirin (sweet wine) or sake (dry wine)

1-2 santaka or cayenne red chillies, chopped

salt

Garnish

a few feathery fronds of fresh dill

Method

1. Rinse the rice several times to remove the starch.

2. Bring 1 3/4 pints (1 litre) water to the boil in a 4 pint (2.25 litre) saucepan.

3. Add the rice and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occassionally to prevent sticking.

4. Add all the remaining ingredients, including salt to taste.

5. Serve garnished with the fresh dill.