Obachan’s Mushroom Kamameshi Recipe (Japanese Mixed Rice)
Oct 27, 2020 • Updated Feb 07, 2024
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This Mushroom Kamameshi, or Japanese Mixed Rice recipe, is one from my Grandma! It’s comforting, hearty, and easy to make. Your favorite Japanese comfort food made vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and oil-free.
What Makes This Recipe Great
Some of my all-time favorite recipes are meals cooked by my obachan (Grandma, in Japanese); this Mushroom Kamameshi is no exception. It is best described as a Japanese Mixed Rice dish, typically prepared with a stock base, with vegetables and sometimes meat cooked along with it.
The result is a fluffy, flavorful rice with a light seasoning that can be enjoyed as is or served alongside a complete meal. To make her kamameshi vegan, my obachan used a variety of mushrooms, which pack a ton of umami flavor, carrots, lotus root slices, and edamame “for color.”
This is a very simple dish and is best prepared in a rice cooker. Short-grain white rice is the standard rice variety, and rice cookers are the preferred preparation method because they will make perfect rice every time. Related: ($70 affordable Tiger brand rice cooker)
I have also included an Instant Pot method in the recipe card below, but I really prefer the rice cooker. I find that cooking short-grain rice in an Instant Pot almost always results in a bottom burn. As an alternative, you could invest in a non-stick Instant Pot insert, but trust me when I say a rice cooker is the way to go.
This kamameshi recipe is vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and made without added oils. It comes together in one pot and is a great recipe to meal-prep if you’d like to store portions in the freezer. Let’s get cooking!
Ingredient Notes
- Short grain, white rice: My grandma likes this brand, but any brand will do.
- Mushrooms of choice: I used shimeji, oyster, and enoki mushrooms.
- Carrots
- Sliced lotus root
- Edamame
- Gluten-free soy sauce
- Kombu dashi: AKA a vegan broth. Make my homemade vegan kombu dashi.
- Vegetable dashi (or vegetable stock powder)
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prepare your kombu dashi in advance by soaking a piece of kombu about the size of half of your palm in 2 cups of water overnight or for at least 3-4 hours.
- Begin by combining kombu dashi, vegetable dashi, soy sauce, sugar, and salt in your rice cooker or Instant Pot.
- Next, prepare your rice by rinsing in a bowl about 3-4 times with your hands, draining the water in between rinses. If you’re using an Instant Pot, let your rinsed rice soak in water for 15-20 minutes, then drain well. This step gives the rice a chance to absorb moisture. It will not cook all the way through if you skip this step, as the Instant Pot cooks it a little too quickly.
- Add rinsed and drained rice to the rice cooker or Instant Pot along with all remaining ingredients. Give everything a gentle stir to, then cook as you normally would your rice. If using an Instant Pot, cook on high pressure for 2 minutes, let release naturally for 10 minutes, and manually release the remaining pressure. Fluff rice immediately and transfer it to an airtight container.
Secrets to Success
- If you decide to make this kamameshi in an Instant Pot, please read the recipe directions carefully and make sure not to skip any steps!
- If using an Instant Pot, I highly recommend considering using a non-stick pot insert. Short-grain Japanese rice almost always burns at the bottom of the Instant Pot and causes the “burn” alarm to go off.
- Kombu, or stock seaweed, can be found in the Asian section of most grocery stores and can be easily found at Asian grocery stores. As an alternative, you can opt to use a light vegetable broth.
Storage Tips
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 4-5 days.
To freeze, let your kamameshi cool completely. Then, transfer to a freezer bag or freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3-6 months.
More Favorite Recipes
Zenzai (Sweet Red Bean Soup with Mochi)
Vegan Dduk Guk (Korean Rice Cake Soup)
If you try this kamameshi recipe out, tag me on Instagram @veggiekins so I can see your delicious re-creations and feature them! As always, I love when you share your reviews in the comments below, and if you make any fun substitutions, let me know how it worked out below too.
Obachan’s Mushroom Kamameshi Recipe (Japanese Mixed Rice)
Ingredients
- 2 cups kombu dashi soak a piece of kombu in 2 cups of water overnight
- 1 teaspoon vegetable dashi or vegetable bouillon
- 2 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce or tamari
- 1 teaspoon sugar I used coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups Japanese short grain white rice my grandma likes this brand, but any brand will do
- 2-3 cups mushrooms of choice I used shimeji, oyster and enoki mushrooms
- 1 cup lotus root thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup carrot julienned
- 1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame
Instructions
- Prepare your kombu dashi in advance by soaking a piece of kombu about the size of half of your palm in 2 cups of water overnight or for at least 3-4 hours.
- Begin by combining kombu dashi, vegetable dashi, soy sauce, sugar and salt in your rice cooker or Instant Pot.
- Next, prepare your rice by rinsing with your hands about 3-4 times in a bowl, draining the water in between rinses. If you're using an Instant Pot, let your rinsed rice soak in water for 15-20 minutes then drain well. This step gives the rice a chance to absorb moisture, it will not cook through all the way if you skip this step as the Instant Pot cooks it a little too quickly.
- Add rinsed and drained rice to the rice cooker or Instant Pot along with all remaining ingredients. Give everything a gentle stir to, then cook as you normally would your rice. If using an Instant Pot, cook on high pressure for 2 minutes, let release naturally for 10 minutes, and manually release remaining pressure. Fluff rice immediately and transfer to an airtight container.
Notes
Secrets to Success
-
- If you decide to make this kamameshi in an Instant Pot, please read the recipe directions carefully and make sure not to skip any steps!
-
- If using an Instant Pot, I highly recommend considering using a non-stick pot insert. Short-grain Japanese rice almost always burns at the bottom of the Instant Pot and causes the “burn” alarm to go off.
-
- Kombu, or stock seaweed, can be found in the Asian section of most grocery stores and can be easily found at Asian grocery stores. As an alternative, you can opt to use a light vegetable broth.
Storage Tips
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 4-5 days. To freeze, let your kamameshi cool completely. Then, transfer to a freezer bag or freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3-6 months.Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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