Jushi is the Okinawan word for seasoned rice. The firmer kind, kufa jushi, is rice cooked in pork stock with pork belly, carrot, rehydrated dried shiitake and kamaboko; the pork gives it a glossy finish. Once an essential dish for festivals and celebrations, it has variations such as unkee jushi with leaf ginger for the Obon welcoming of ancestors and tunjii jushi with taro for the winter solstice. Today it is everyday home cooking as well.
Ingredients
- Rice
- Pork
- Carrot
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Japanese dashi
How I made it
- Put the rice, pork and vegetables in a clay pot with dashi and cook
- When done, loosen the rice from the bottom of the pot
Sources: maff.go.jp
This moment in the journey
Jushi in a clay pot
In the clay pot, another Okinawan flavor had finished cooking: jushi, rice simmered with Japanese dashi and the richness of pork. The word means seasoned rice in Okinawan; this time I cooked it with carrot and shiitake. It's a classic for seasonal festivals and celebrations.
Watch this scene on YouTube4:20
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