Chicken and Burdock Rice

This is a rice dish from the Kyushu area in Japan. This chicken and burdock rice is one of my family’s favorite flavored rice dishes. The taste combination of sweet and salty really hits the spot. It is simple and delicious. 

  

Chicken and Burdock Rice

·      2 rice cups of rice (1 rice cup=180cc)

·      ½ lb of boneless chicken thighs

·      1 burdock root

·      ¼ US cup (80ml) of sugar

·      ¼ US cup (80ml) of soy sauce

·      ¼ US cup (80ml) of Japanese sake

·      1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

1.     Rinse the rice thoroughly and cook in the rice cooker’s “hard rice” setting.

2.     Clean off the surface of the burdock, thinly slice (shave) with a knife or peeler, and then soak them in water for 5 minutes in order to remove its astringent taste.

3.     Drain the water from the burdock in a strainer.

4.     Cut the chicken thighs into 1-inch cubes.

5.     Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and sauté the chicken.

6.     Once the color of the chicken turns white, add the burdock and sauté well.

7.     Add sugar, soy sauce, and sake. Boil it down until the amount of the sauce reduces by 1/3.

8.     Mix the chicken, burdock, and sauce with the cooked rice.

9.     Serve in a rice bowl.