Suizen (Rice and Agar Noodle Jelly)

Quick answer

Total time: 75 min
Level: Hard
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients: 10

About this dish

Suizen is a ceremonial food from Wajima in Ishikawa made by simmering tengusa agar seaweed with a little vinegar, straining it, combining the extract with soaked rice ground into a fine slurry, and cooking it again before setting it in a mold.

The firm jelly is sliced to 4 or 5mm or pressed into slender strips and arranged like a flower. A sweet-savory sauce of black sesame, brown sugar, miso, soy sauce, and kombu dashi accompanies it. Agar firmness and rice-starch softness meet in one bite, traditionally presented in Wajima lacquerware for Buddhist memorials and funerals.

Ingredients (2 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
dried tengusa agar seaweed	20	g
rice vinegar	1	tsp
Japanese short-grain rice	60	g
water	900	ml
black sesame seeds	3	tbsp
brown sugar	2	tbsp
miso	1.5	tbsp
soy sauce	0.67	tbsp
kombu dashi	2.5	tbsp
mandarin	1	piece

Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Prep

Wash 60g rice and soak in 300ml cold water under refrigeration for 8 hours.

Blend rice and water for 2 minutes, rest 1 minute, and blend 1 minute more into a grit-free slurry.
2

Control

Rinse 20g tengusa to remove grit.

Combine with 600ml water and 1 teaspoon vinegar, bring to a boil, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the seaweed nearly dissolves.
3

Season

Press the hot seaweed liquid through damp cloth into a saucepan.

Stir the rice slurry to redistribute starch, then whisk it gradually into the seaweed extract.
4

Heat

Cook over medium-low for 10 to 12 minutes, scraping the bottom constantly.

When translucent and glossy and a spatula trail holds for 2 seconds, pour into a water-rinsed mold.
5

Season

Cool for 30 minutes, then chill for 3 hours.

Toast black sesame for 4 minutes, grind finely, and mix with brown sugar, miso, soy sauce, and kombu dashi into a smooth sauce.
6

Finish

Unmold and cut the jelly into narrow strips 4 to 5mm thick and 8cm long.

Arrange like flower petals, serve with the sauce, and top with peeled mandarin segments.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Agar extract set with fine rice slurry
Finish cue: When translucent and glossy and a spatula trail holds for 2 seconds, pour into a water-rinsed mold.
Storage and reheating: Wash 60g rice and soak in 300ml cold water under refrigeration for 8 hours.