Japanese ochazuke with fried rice cakes and salmon features a nourishing miso or green tea broth ~ it’s a quick and delicious weeknight meal!
fried rice cake and salmon ochazuke is Japanese comfort food!
Traditional Japanese ochazuke is an incredibly simple dish made from leftover rice steeped in green tea (ocha meaning green tea, and zuke meaning submerged.) When you add salmon and a few veggies into the mix, it becomes a glorious (but still simple) meal.
Whenever I make Japanese-inspired food I wonder why I can’t just eat this way every day. It’s so light and healthy (the Japanese are the longest lived people on the planet) and requires no extra effort. Japanese recipes have introduced me to a whole new world of dinner possibilities, like this gorgeous bowl made up largely of leftovers!
what’s in salmon ochazuke bowls
Leftover rice and salmon make this incredibly quick to prepare. The veggies need only the briefest cooking to take the raw edge off, leaving them brightly colored and crisp tender.
- sushi rice fried into crispy cakes ~ freshly made or leftover sushi rice is made into patties and then pan fried.
- toasted sesame oil ~ this is incredibly flavorful and makes the rice cakes so good, but it’s pricy. You can use regular vegetable oil with part sesame oil for flavor when frying the cakes.
- leftover salmon ~ you could substitute shrimp, or an egg or two
- broth ~ you have choices here, you can do a traditional green tea or dashi broth, or you can use a simple miso broth.
- baby bok choy ~ sub in baby spinach
- mushrooms ~ either cultivated or wild
- snow peas
- green onions
- sesame seeds
- pickled ginger
The top food that Japanese centenarians eat every day? It’s rice.
And this dish is perfect for using up leftover rice! You’ll want to buy Japanese sushi rice, which is a high starch variety of short grain rice. Most grocery stores carry it ~ it can also be called Calrose rice, short-grain rice, or Japonica. The starch in the rice helps it hold together in cake form while it fries. The cakes are so satisfying you don’t even need the salmon to make this a meal.
how to make crispy Japanese fried rice cakes
Step by step instructions…
- Start with leftover rice or freshly made rice. If freshly made, let it cool down by spreading it on a baking sheet.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a 1/2 cup measure to portion out the rice and then form into flat patties, about 2 1/2-3 inch diameter. There’s no need to be especially neat, in fact the uneven edges will get extra crispy as they fry. Note: wet or lightly oil your hands to prevent sticking.
- Heat a light layer of vegetable oil of your choice in a skillet, Toasted sesame oil makes this dish especially flavorful.
- Carefully add a few rice cakes at a time. Brush the tops with soy sauce and fry until crispy and starting to turn golden on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Be careful when flipping these, as they are delicate.
to assemble your salmon ochazuke bowl
- Add a rice cake to a wide shallow bowl.
- Add the broth or green tea with veggies.
- Top with flaked salmon.
- Garnish and eat!
more Japanese inspired dishes
- Japanese Chicken Katsu Curry Bowl
- Edamame Salad
- Japanese Cucumber Salad (Sunomono)
- Japanese Pork Dumplings with Ginger
- Japanese Cucumber Salad (Sunomono)
- Easy Miso Soup Recipe
Japanese ochazuke with fried rice cakes and salmon
Ingredients
rice cakes
- 2 cups cooked and cooled sushi rice
- toasted sesame oil* for frying
- soy sauce (I use Tamari)
salmon bowl
- 48 ounces water, chicken broth, or green tea
- 2 baby bok choy, trimmed and cut in wedges Note: if using regular bok choy remove outer leaves and slice.
- 2 cups wild or cultivated mushrooms, sliced
- 1 handful of snow peas
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 6 Tbsp yellow miso paste (leave out if using green tea)
- 1 Tbsp Tamari sauce, or to taste
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 lb (more or less) cooked salmon
optional garnish
- sesame seeds
- pickled ginger
- furikake (a Japanese condiment made from  dried fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, and salt)
Instructions
rice cakes
- Use an ice cream scoop or a 1/2 cup measure to portion out the rice and then form into flat patties, about 2 1/2-3 inch diameter.
- There's no need to be especially neat, in fact the uneven edges will get extra crispy as they fry. Note: wet or lightly oil your hands to prevent sticking.
- Coat the bottom of your skillet generously with sesame oil. Heat until hot but not smoking. Carefully add a few rice cakes at a time. Brush the tops with Tamari soy sauce and fry until crispy and starting to turn golden on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.Â
bowls
- Bring the water, broth, or freshly made green tea in a pan to a simmer and add the bok choy and mushrooms. Let simmer briefly to wilt the veggies.
- Add the snow peas and green onions and let cook for another minute. You're just looking to take the raw edge off the veggies.
- Remove from the heat and stir in in the miso paste until dissolved. Note: leave out the miso if you are using green tea. Add the Tamari and sesame oil. Taste the broth to adjust the flavor.
- Put a rice cake on the side of each of 4 wide shallow bowls. Fill with the broth, and then add the salmon, gently flaked. Garnish with sesame seeds and pickled ginger, or a sprinkle of furikake, if you like.
Notes
Nutrition
It’s hard to rate a recipe when your own inexperience got in the way. My rice cakes never would work (lol be honest, Sue – how many tries did it take you to get such pretty rice cakes?) and I ended up with a stir fried rice type dish that was both oily and a risk for chipped teeth.
But the soup… I’ve had limited exposure to miso paste and wasn’t sure what to do with it. The rating is for the soup alone. I will be keeping that in my recipe rotation.