Akita Asazuke (Chilled Sweet-and-Sour Rice)

Name: Akita Asazuke (Chilled Sweet-and-Sour Rice)
Prep time: 210 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 235 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: short-grain rice 150 g; sugar 250 g; salt 1 pinch; water 1200 ml; vinegar 80 ml; cucumber 1 ea; peeled turnip 100 g; seasonal fruit 50 g

Quick answer

Total time: 235 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 10 servings
Ingredients: 8

About this dish

The name sounds like a vegetable pickle, but this Akita dish is mostly a chilled rice base cooked with sugar and sharpened with vinegar.

Soaked rice is ground with a few grains left whole, which gives it a slightly nubbly texture. Cucumber and turnip go in only once the base is completely cold, to keep their crunch, and seasonal fruit sits on top.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

salt1 pinch

cucumber1 ea

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Instructions

7 steps

1

Rinse the rice and soak it in plenty of water for at least 3 hours.

Drain the soaked rice in a sieve.
2

Rub the cucumber with the measured salt and slice it into thin rounds.

Briefly blanch the peeled turnip whole, then cut it into thin quarter-round slices.
3

Wash and drain the seasonal fruit.

If the pieces are large, cut them into small serving-size pieces for the topping.
4

Grind the drained rice in a mortar until only a few rice grains remain.

If using a blender, process the rice with 400 ml of the measured water to the same texture.
5

Transfer the ground rice to a saucepan and add the remaining water so the total is 1,200 ml.

Cook over medium heat, stirring slowly with a spatula, then add the sugar and continue stirring.
6

When bubbles form around the edge and the rice mixture becomes translucent and thick, turn off the heat.

Add the vinegar gradually, mixing evenly as the base cools.
7

Once the rice base is completely cool, fold in the cucumber and turnip and divide among bowls.

Arrange the seasonal fruit on top and serve chilled.