Ayu Rousui (Tokushima Sweetfish and Vegetable Rice Porridge)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 65 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 11
About this dish
Ayu rousui is a rice porridge from the Katsuura area of Tokushima.
Read more
Rice, potato, eggplant, onion, and shimeji simmer in ample water before whole sweetfish are laid on top and cooked, allowing the fish to season both broth and vegetables. Rousui is regarded as a local form of the word zosui, meaning rice porridge. This recipe uses 150g rice and 1600ml water so the grains can expand fully. Four cleaned ayu enter only after the vegetables begin softening. Once cooked, their heads, bones, and fins are removed carefully and only the flesh returns to the pot. Nesashi miso, garlic chives, thin sudachi slices, and a little shichimi finish the porridge with salty soybean depth, green aroma, citrus, and gentle heat.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Prep
Rinse 150g rice gently until the water is mostly clear and drain for 15 minutes.
Cut 150g potato into 1.5cm fan-shaped pieces.
- 2Prep
Halve 100g eggplant lengthwise and slice 5mm thick; thinly slice 120g onion.
Trim and separate 100g shimeji, cut 100g chives into 2cm lengths, and slice 1 sudachi into thin rounds.
- 3Prep
Scale 4 ayu and inspect the gills and bellies for grit.
If grit is present, remove the gills and guts and rinse briefly; otherwise leave the bellies intact, wash the surfaces, and dry completely.
- 4Control
Put the rice, 1600ml water, potato, eggplant, onion, and shimeji in a wide shallow pot.
Bring to a boil, stir the bottom once to release the rice, reduce to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- 5Control
When a chopstick enters the potato halfway, lay the ayu over the vegetables without overlapping.
Cover and cook over low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, confirming the thickest flesh reaches at least 63°C.
- 6Finish
Transfer the ayu carefully to a wide plate and remove heads, backbones, fine bones, and fins, leaving only flesh.
Dissolve 80g nesashi miso in a ladle of broth, return it to the pot, and stir gently without crushing the rice.
- 7Control
Return the ayu flesh with the chives and warm over low heat for 2 minutes.
Turn off the heat, add the sudachi rounds, divide among 4 bowls, and sprinkle with a share of 1g shichimi.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Soft porridge from 150g rice and 1600ml water
- Finish cue
- Return the ayu flesh with the chives and warm over low heat for 2 minutes.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official food safety guidance.
This recipe
65min, 11 ingredients
Category median
38.5min, 8 ingredients
Based on 214 recipes
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