Daikon wrapped rice with diakon greens 大根葉の混ぜご飯

With this dish I I used up all the daikon greens I had left over. The idea came from "Izakaya Hawaii Tokuritei cooking". While the picture in the book showed the rice wrapped in a sheet of diakon, instructions for the presentation were not included in the recipe. So I had to “wing-it”. Since I was in innovation mode I also rearranged the presentation to my preference rather than those shown in the picture. From the picture, in the absence of instructions. I was not sure if the daikon was cooked or raw. In any case here is my version; Daikon green rice wrapped in simmered daikon sheets topped with nori and crispy jako (which was left over from another dish I made at the same time).

The picture below shows what the dish looked like before I put on the toppings.

This is a simple concoction. I mixed blanched and finely chopped daikon greens with dried bonito flakes or "katusobishi" 鰹節 shavings (I used the kind that comes in a small plastic pouch) dressed in soy sauce and sesame oil (to taste, dry bonito flakes do absorb soy sauce)．I mixed this with cooked rice in a bowl.

I shaved the Daikon in the manner of "katsura muki" 桂剝き a bit thicker than for thinly julienned "tsuma" つま granish for sashimi (see below). I boiled it for 10 minutes in water with some raw rice then let it cool. I did not further season it (just because I got lazy but I could have simmered in in light colored soy sauce, salt, sugar or mirin). The sheets broke into several pieces when I tried to take them out of the pan. On hindsight either I should have cooked them less or cut the daikon a bit thicker. Using a ring mold, I placed the strips of daikon inside the mold lining the inner surface. I then pressed the seasoned rice into the center and made a tightly packed disk of the rice with the daikon sheets on the periphery. I then gently removed the ring mold. I briefly microwave it just before serving so that the daikon and rice were warm.

The daikon needed some seasoning but overall this dish was good as a “shime” 〆 or ending dish for the evening. The topping also added flavors and textures to the rice. The daikon greens are somewhat like mustard greens and have a very slight sharp (not hot) taste and the combination worked very well.