Mizuna Ochazuke with Soy-Cured Salmon
Day-old rice revived in delicate dashi with peppery Aeroveg Mizuna and silky soy-cured salmon — Japan's most restorative rice dish, ready in twenty-five minutes.
Ochazuke is Japan's answer to leftover rice — steamed grains loosened in hot dashi, topped simply and eaten as a late meal or quiet breakfast. Aeroveg Mizuna's peppery, slightly mustardy character is the ideal companion: light enough not to overwhelm the delicate broth, but distinctive enough to make every spoonful count. The soy-cured salmon needs just fifteen minutes in the marinade — long enough to take on flavour, short enough to still feel like a quick meal.
Method
- Cure the salmon. Mix soy sauce, mirin and sake in a shallow bowl. Add the salmon fillet and turn to coat on all sides. Leave for 15 minutes at room temperature, or up to overnight in the fridge. When ready, slice thinly across the grain.
- Warm the dashi. Heat dashi stock in a small saucepan with soy sauce and mirin over medium heat. Taste and adjust — it should be gently savoury, not salty. Keep warm but do not allow it to boil.
- Warm the rice. Divide rice between two deep bowls. If using cold day-old rice, cover loosely and microwave for 60–90 seconds until just warm through.
- Build the bowls. Arrange slices of soy-cured salmon over the rice. Tuck Aeroveg Mizuna around and between the salmon slices, distributing evenly.
- Finish and pour. Add nori strips and sesame seeds. At the table, ladle warm dashi over each bowl — enough to pool around the rice and barely reach the greens, without fully submerging them. Serve with wasabi on the side.
Aeroveg tip: Add Mizuna to the bowl raw and let the hot dashi do the work — the residual heat gently wilts the outer leaves while keeping the stems crisp. Cooking it beforehand strips the peppery edge that makes Aeroveg Mizuna worth using in a dish this simple.