Recipe: Ochazuke

After returning from Korea, I have refound my roots, particularly the fact that I can't live without rice. Although I heart Korean food, I am smitten with Japanese food, which I find so intriguing for its clean, simplistic, and refreshing qualities that also highly regards presentation. I experimented with making ochazuke, a dish made with pouring green tea over rice and toppings. There a number of different varieties of ochazuke, depending on the toppings and tea you use. For instance, I used canned tuna because I didn't have raw fish and the result was still fantastic but the variations are endless. The following recipe is just a base for this simple and comforting rice dish.

Ochazuke
Serves 1

Ingredients
cooked rice
½ 5-oz can tuna in water, drained and broken up into flakes
¼ zucchini, sliced thinly and cooked
pickled ginger and onion
1 sheet salted and toasted seaweed, crumbled
¼ avocado, sliced
½ tsp wasabi
½ tsp toasted sesame seeds
1 cup brewed green tea

Instructions
Place warm, cooked rice in a large bowl and place tuna in the middle.
Add the cooked zucchini, pickled ginger and onion, and toasted seaweed along the outer edges of the bowl so that it surrounds the rice.
Place avocado on top between the tuna and other toppings.
Add wasabi and top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
Pour hot tea over the rice until most of the bowl's contents, about 2/3rds, are soaked.
Mix and eat immediately!