Looking for more ways to cook various rice dishes in your instant pot? Today, we will use the trusty pressure cooker to make Instant Pot Takikomi Gohan, a versatile Japanese rice dish with a colorful mix of ingredients. This one-pot dish is wholesome and comforting to enjoy on a hectic weeknight. This rice recipe is specifically created for those of you who love to cook with the Instant Pot. If you don’t own one, I encourage you to prepare my classic Takikomi Gohan recipe in the rice cooker!
What is Takikomi Gohan?
Takikomi gohan (炊き込みご飯) is a Japanese rice dish seasoned with dashi and soy sauce and cooked with mushrooms, vegetables, and meat or fish. Takikomi gohan often includes seasonal ingredients such as matsutake (wild pine) mushrooms in Matsutake Gohan or chestnuts in Kuri Gohan. We also use different ingredients to make all kinds of variations, like Gobo and Miso Takikomi Gohan, Sweet Onion Takikomi Gohan, Ginger Rice, and Sansai Gohan (Rice with Mountain Vegetables). There is a similar dish called mazegohan (混ぜ御飯) or maze gohan in which flavorful ingredients are mixed into the rice after it’s cooked. Ume Shiso Rice is one of my popular mazegohan recipes.
Ingredients for Takikomi Gohan
Japanese short-grain white rice dried shiitake mushrooms water (to rehydrate the shiitake) chicken thigh sake – for marinating the chicken gobo (burdock root) carrot aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch) mitsuba (Japanese parsley) – for garnish; or use green onion dashi (Japanese soup stock) – use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi soy sauce – use gluten-free soy sauce for GF mirin Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Substitutions and Variations
Besides being convenient, takikomi gohan makes a great template for trying new flavor combinations. You can definitely make yours with whatever you like!
Try fresh mushrooms. Use fresh shiitake mushrooms or other mushrooms if you can’t find dried shiitake. While dried shiitake produces a delicious shiitake dashi (stock) through the soaking water that we use to cook the rice, the fresh kind still has an amazing aroma and flavor. Use other root vegetables. If you can’t find burdock root, you can skip it and add other root vegetables, such as turnips. Substitute deep-fried tofu cubes. I love including aburaage because it adds extra flavor and texture to the mixed rice. If you can’t find it in the freezer or tofu section at Japanese grocery stores, use a similar deep-fried tofu that is a small cube shape carried at some Asian grocery stores. Use chives or green onion/scallion. Mitsuba is a Japanese herb that makes the dish extra tasty, yet it is extremely hard to find if you don’t have a well-stocked Japanese grocery store. Use chives or green onion/scallion instead to add some green color. Swap your favorite Japanese soup stock (dashi). Use any Japanese dashi you like, including Awase Dashi (kombu + katsuobushi), Kombu Dashi, and Shiitake Dashi. Do not substitute chicken or beef stock.
How To Cook Instant Pot Takikomi Gohan
4 Cooking Tips for Instant Pot Takikomi Gohan
1. Cut the ingredients a similar size.
There are two reasons for this. First, you don’t want to eat big and chunky ingredients with soft, tender rice. Also, all the ingredients cook at the same time; therefore, you need to cut the tougher ingredients slightly smaller even than the more tender ingredients.
2. Add the seasonings just before cooking.
To give the plump and thick Japanese short-grain rice a head start, make sure to soak it in water for 20–30 minutes and drain well. Wait to add the soy sauce and salt (along with the cooking liquid) until just prior to cooking. The soy sauce and salt actually prevent the rice from absorbing water, so we can’t add them during the soaking step.
3. Do not mix the ingredients into the uncooked rice.
When you add the chicken and veggies to the uncooked rice, resist the urge to mix it! For the rice to cook evenly, it must stay below the ingredients and submerged in the cooking liquid.
4. Release the pressure naturally after exactly 10 minutes.
When it’s done cooking, set a 10-minute timer for natural release of pressure. After exactly 10 minutes, quick release the remaining pressure by opening the valve. Then, immediately open the lid to fluff the rice and release the extra moisture. I hope you can lean on this popular recipe in Japanese cooking anytime you need a satisfying meal for the family! Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
