Mame Gohan (豆ご飯) is a humble dish. As you see, it’s just simple steamed rice with green peas. I remember I didn’t like eating peas that do not come in a pod. I love snap peas and sugar peas as I can eat the crispy and crunchy pod together with the peas inside. The reason is if the peas are not fresh or cooked properly, they are mushy and wrinkly and taste bland. As I grew older, I appreciate subtle flavors in ingredients more. Since it’s spring and peas are in season, I want to introduce you to Mame Gohan – a signature dish during spring in Japan. And don’t worry, it’s very tasty!
What is Mame Gohan
Many of you probably have never heard of Mame Gohan as Japanese restaurants outside of Japan (or even in Japan) don’t serve this dish, but it is a classic home-cooked dish that most Japanese grow up eating during the springtime when peas are in season. Mame (豆) means any type of bean or legume in Japanese, like edamame, and gohan means rice. However, when we say Mame Gohan, it usually refers to rice with green peas.
2 Ways to Make Mame Gohan
You can make Mame Gohan two ways. There is no “wrong” way to make it and everyone has their own preference.
Method 1 – Cook rice and peas together:
All you need is one pot or rice cooker for this method, so this is the convenient option. Plus, the rice will absorb nice flavors and aromatics from the fresh peas while cooking. However, the drawback is that green peas will slightly discolor after being cooked.
Method 2 – Cook rice and peas separately:
For the second method, peas and rice are cooked separately and mixed together afterwards. The best part about this method is that green peas can maintain their beautiful bright green color and crispness (the peas will not be overcooked). What’s my method? I cook rice and peas separately, but with a minor adjustment. Since Method 2 lacks flavors and aromatics from the green peas, my trick is to cook the rice with green peas’ cooking liquid. The rice will absorb all the nice flavors from the green peas this way. You can enjoy crisp green peas and beautiful green color in the flavorful steamed rice.
Seasonings for Mame Gohan
How can green pea rice tastes so good? The key is to make it with fresh peas that are in season and cook it with kombu, salt, and sake. Umami from kombu plays a big role in this dish, so I recommend not skipping it. Salt enhances and brings all the great flavors from the peas and binds together with rice. And sake adds subtle sweetness and umami from the fermented rice in sake. All three things tie all the great flavors in this simple, humble dish.
What Dishes Goes with Mame Gohan
I’d also like to suggest a few dishes to go with Mame Gohan. Since it’s rice, it goes well with any Japanese dishes… but here are my suggestions. Hope you enjoy a bit of spring at meal time!
Main Dish: Grilled Mackerel (fish) or Teriyaki Steak Rolls (beef) Side Dishes: Spiral Cucumber Salad, Japanese Potato Salad, or Hijiki Salad Soup: Homemade Miso Soup (with cabbage) Dessert: Cherry Blossom Milk Pudding
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