When I was growing up my “second family” was a Japanese-Hawaiian family that lived next door. My parents worked a lot so I spent most of my time with the two daughters and their mom.
The girls were a little bit picky but one of the quick meals we ate all the time was ochazuke or chazuke. At its core, chazuke is just a dish of tea poured over rice, but like with most simple meals, there are a million ways to customize it. Salmon, umeboshi or pickled plum, and furikake are a few common toppings, but there are no hard or fast rules.
The version I ate most often was made with a store-bought packet of chazuke powder (umeboshi is far and away my favorite flavor) which you can sprinkle over rice and pour hot water on top of (no actual tea necessary), but nowadays when I’m feeling slightly less lazy I’ll make this “scratch” version.
It never really struck me as out of the ordinary to consider tea a type of “broth” until I posted this recipe online. People were generally super positive and curious to try, but I never even considered that people would be surprised to see tea being used in this way. When paired with rice, seaweed (from the furikake) and salmon, the flavor of the tea mostly takes a back seat so the resulting flavor profile might not be as weird as it may seem.
Whether from the instant packet, a special chazuke specific wakame furikake mix that you can find at most Japanese markets, or homemade, chazuke makes for a perfect weeknight, low effort meal. It’s typically the first thing I reach for on days when I’m feeling under the weather and don’t have the energy to cook a full meal but know that I should be eating something.
For anyone sensitive to caffeine, you can experiment with swapping out different substitutes, like barley tea, which is caffeine-free, or simple dashi powder, which you can find at most Asian markets. Even chicken bouillon powder would work in a pinch — that’s the magic of ochazuke.
Salmon Ochazuke
Ingredients
- 2 filets frozen salmon
- 3 cups uncooked white rice
- 1-2 tsp soy sauce per bowl
- 1/2 tsp salt per bowl
- furikake
- 1 cup brewed green tea
Instructions
- Wash and rinse 3 cups uncooked white rice until the water runs clear. This can take up to 4 or 5 washes.
- Add the drained rice to a rice cooker and fill to the appropriate water line. Carefully place 2 filets frozen salmon on top of the rice, skin side down, trying to overlap them as little as possible. Sprinkle a bit of salt (about 1/2 tsp) on top of the salmon filets, then close the rice cooker and set it to a normal rice cooking cycle.
- When the rice is done cooking, carefully flip the salmon filets and remove the skin. Optionally you can roast the skin in the oven and use it as a crunchy topping, but I usually just throw it away.
- With a spoon or rice paddle, break up the salmon filets directly into the rice and mix so there are small pieces of salmon throughout the rice.
- Scoop about 1 cup of rice into a soup bowl. Add 1/2 tsp salt and sprinkle with furikake, then pour 1 cup brewed green tea over the top of the rice. Finish with 1-2 tsp soy sauce or to taste, and enjoy hot.