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Sekihan

Black sesame seeds. Not ants. I promise.


Sekihan is apparently made in Japan for celebrations, but we definitely had it when we were there for non-festive occasions such as "let's stop at this counter in the station and grab some food to eat on the train." It's sticky rice and adzuki beans with just a little bit of seasoning, and it's delicious.

Shortly after we came back from Japan, I made it for a potluck for Japanese middle school students who were visiting Oregon. They were tentatively walking through the line, looking timidly at the assortment of weird American foods (pizza, pasta, and salads) and passing by the sekihan until one of their chaperones pointed out what it was. Then they got really excited and started spooning it onto their plates alongside their pizza.

Serve this with something that has a bright, fresh flavor (as in, NOT pizza). Today, I served it with seaweed salad. That was perfect because we could also mix the seaweed into the rice as we ate.

I follow this recipe. I make no changes, because I wouldn't know what changes to make. I do think that one day I'll get brave enough to experiment, though, so stay tuned.

The hardest part: Remember to soak the beans overnight.

Red bean water dumped into the rice mixture.

Perfectly cooked in the rice cooker.


The Recipe:
1/2 c adzuki beans, soaked overnight
3 c sweet rice / sticky rice / glutinous rice / mochigome
1/2 c sushi rice
2 1/2 c water
1/2 tsp salt
gomashio or toasted black sesame seeds and additional salt, for seasoning
  • Cover beans with water in a small pot and bring to a boil.
  • Drain the water and replace it with 2 1/2 c of new water. Return to a boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes until beans are soft. 
  • Rinse rice and mix the two types of rice in a rice cooker.
  • Dump the soft beans WITH their cooking liquid (red water) into the rice cooker with the rice. Add salt and about 3/4 c more water, until you have the right amount of water for your rice cooker. 
  • Cook in rice cooker.
  • Sprinkle with gomashio or black sesame seeds and rice to serve.

The Verdict:
Overall grade: B+
Overall reason: It definitely needs something to perk it up, but it's a great meal component.
Time to prepare: 5 minutes of actual work, spread out over an hour (plus soaking overnight)
Husband quote: "Yum. Salty. Good."




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