Hiruzen Okowa
Quick answer
- Total time
- 585 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 17
About this dish
Barley grains and chestnuts dried for a day give chew to this steamed sticky rice, which also carries chicken, burdock, fuki, shiitake, and fried tofu glossed with soy seasoning.
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The dish came to the Hiruzen area of Maniwa in Okayama from Daisen okowa in Tottori, and barley entered the mix around 1972 through a local staple-food improvement campaign. Families served it at New Year, seasonal celebrations, and festivals. The liquid left from simmering the filling is kept and sprinkled over the grains partway through steaming.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Peel both skins from 300g chestnuts, spread on a clean mesh without overlapping, and dry outdoors for 8 hours on a clear dry day.
Soak 600g glutinous rice in ample cold water for 8 hours, 75g barley for 30 minutes, and 1g dried shiitake in warm water until soft.
- 2
Blanch 40 g green beans for 2 minutes in boiling water with 6 g salt and cut diagonally into 2 cm pieces.
Use packaged fuki that has already been boiled and soaked for aku removal. Rinse as directed, drain, weigh 80 g, and cut into 1 cm pieces. Cut the chicken into 1.5 cm pieces and shave the burdock thinly.
- 3
Squeeze and slice the rehydrated shiitake, cut 80g carrot into 3mm quarter-rounds, and slice 30g fried tofu 1.5cm wide.
Heat 12g oil, sauté chicken 3 minutes, then add burdock, fuki, shiitake, and tofu and cook 2 minutes more.
- 4
Add 200ml water and 10ml mirin, then 12g sugar, 20ml soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon salt for the simmering liquid, and simmer 10 minutes. Once the chicken center reaches 74°C, strain and reserve the filling and cooking liquid separately.
- 5
Drain rice and barley for 20 minutes, then coat with the remaining 12g oil.
Line a steamer with damp cloth and spread the grains mixed evenly with cooked filling, carrot, and dried chestnuts. Once steam rises strongly, steam over high heat for 30 minutes.
- 6
Open the steamer, sprinkle the reserved cooking liquid gradually and evenly over all the grains, and steam 15 minutes more.
Confirm the rice is translucent through the center and chestnuts are tender, transfer to a wide bowl, fold in green beans, and rest 5 minutes.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 일본 농림수산성 うちの郷土料理
真庭市栄養改善協議会 · Checked: 2026-08-11
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