My Obachan’s Mushroom Kamameshi

Some of my all time favourite recipes are meals cooked by my obachan (Grandma, in Japanese) and 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, flavourful rice with a light seasoning that can be enjoyed as is, or served alongside a complete meal. To make vegan, my obachan used a variety of mushrooms, which pack a ton of umami flavour, carrots, lotus root slices and edamame “for colour”. 

This is a very simple dish, and is best prepared in a rice cooker. Here’s the thing about Japanese (and Korean) rice: it’s very important, and we can be very particular about rice preparation. 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)

So, I highly highly highly recommend using a rice cooker to make this rice, and using short grain white rice, no substitutions. I have also included an Instant Pot method in the recipe card below, but I really prefer the rice cooker because I find that cooking short grain rice in an Instant Pot almost always results in 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.

With my rice cooker spiel out of the way, I should also mention that this 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.

So what’s in this Mushroom Kamameshi?

• Short grain, white rice 
• Mushrooms of choice
• Carrots
• Sliced lotus root
• Edamame
• Gluten free soy sauce
• Kombu dashi (AKA a vegan broth)
• Vegetable dashi (or vegetable stock powder)

Secrets to success

If you decide to make this in an Instant Pot, please read the recipe directions carefully and make sure not to skip any steps!

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.

If you like this recipe, try…

• Sautéed Lotus Root 
• Zenzai (Sweet Red Bean Soup with Mochi)
• Vegan Zaru Soba
• Vegan Dduk Guk (Korean Rice Cake Soup)
• Healthy Mushroom Miso Ramen

If you try this 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 – Japanese Mixed Rice (vegan, gluten free, wfpb)

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• Author: Remy
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 5-6 servings 1x
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

This Mushroom Kamameshi or Japanese Mixed Rice recipe is one from my Grandma! It’s comforting, hearty and easy to make. Vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free and oil free.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 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

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Instructions

1. 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.
2. Begin by combining kombu dashi, vegetable dashi, soy sauce, sugar and salt in your rice cooker or Instant Pot.
3. 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.
4. 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

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.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: main dishes
• Method: instant pot, rice cooker
• Cuisine: Japanese

Keywords: instant pot, rice cooker, japanese, asian, kamameshi, mixed rice, wfpb, oil free, vegan, gluten free, one pot

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