Funa-Meshi (Okayama Minced Crucian Carp Rice Bowl)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 55 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 18
About this dish
Funa-meshi is a rice bowl from southern Okayama made by loosening minced crucian carp in vegetable and sesame oils, briefly frying it with burdock, Kintoki carrot, taro, fresh shiitake, konnyaku, and fried tofu, then simmering everything in dashi seasoned with dark and light soy sauces, mirin, sake, and sugar.
Read more
The hot, richly flavored soup is ladled generously over rice and finished with sliced onion and torn nori. Cooking the mince gently until pale before adding the vegetables reduces the freshwater aroma and keeps it granular. The dish grew alongside reclamation around Kojima Bay, where rice fields, canals, rivers, and Kojima Lake supported plentiful crucian carp. It was also called tontoko-jiru or tontoko-meshi after the rhythmic chopping sound made when winter fish were minced on a board.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Prep
Shave the burdock thinly and soak briefly in cold water.
Cut the Kintoki carrot, shiitake, konnyaku, and fried tofu into thin 3 cm strips. Wearing gloves, peel the taro and cut into 1 cm rounds.
- 2Control
Heat the vegetable and sesame oils over medium heat, lower to low, and add the minced carp.
Break up every lump and fry for 5 to 6 minutes, until pale and at least 70°C at the center. Raise to high heat, add the prepared vegetables and fried tofu, and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
- 3Control
Bring the dashi to a boil in a deep pot and add the fried carp and vegetables.
Skim the foam, mix in both soy sauces, mirin, sake, and sugar, and return to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the taro and burdock are tender.
- 4Finish
Place 200 g hot rice in each of four deep bowls.
Ladle the carp, vegetables, and broth evenly over the rice, then finish with sliced green onion and torn nori and serve hot.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Minced crucian carp is loosened in two oils and fried until pale and fully cooked.
- Finish cue
- Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the taro and burdock are tender.
- Avoid this
- Do not eat freshwater crucian carp raw.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official food safety guidance.
This recipe
55min, 18 ingredients
Category median
38.5min, 8 ingredients
Based on 214 recipes
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