Japanese · Breakfast
Traditional Japanese Breakfast
和朝食 (Washoku Chōshoku)
A calm, balanced Japanese morning set of fluffy steamed rice, savoury tofu and wakame miso soup, salt-grilled salmon and crisp quick-pickled cucumber. It is light, nourishing and full of clean flavours.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Serves
- 2
Calories come from: Carbs 47% · Fat 27% · Protein 26%
Track it in BerryFit and see how it fits your own daily target. Get the app ›
Ingredients
For 2 servings- 2/3 cup130 gJapanese short-grain rice
- 3/4 cup175 gWater for rice
- 1 piece (10 cm)5 gDried kombu
- 1 cup loosely packed10 gBonito flakes (katsuobushi)
- 2 1/2 cups600 gWater for dashi
- 1 heaped tbsp20 gWhite or awase miso paste
- 1/3 block100 gSilken tofu
- 1 tbspDried wakame seaweed
- 1 stalk10 gSpring onion
- 2 small fillets200 gSalmon fillets, skin on
- 1 scant 1/4 tspSalt for salmon
- 1 medium150 gJapanese or mini cucumber
- 1 small pinchSalt for pickles
- 1 tbsp15 gRice vinegar
- 1 tspSugar
- 1 tspToasted sesame seeds (optional)
Steps
- 1
Rinse the rice in cold water, swirling and draining several times until the water runs almost clear.
- 2
Soak the rice in the 175 g measured water in a small pot for 20 minutes.
- 3
Meanwhile, put the kombu in the 600 g dashi water in another pot and leave it to soak.
- 4
Thinly slice the cucumber, toss it with the pickle salt and set aside for 10 minutes.
- 5
Sprinkle the salmon on both sides with its salt and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- 6
Bring the rice to a boil, cover tightly, lower the heat to minimum and cook for 13 minutes.
- 7
Turn off the heat and let the rice steam, still covered, for 10 minutes.
- 8
While the rice cooks, heat the kombu water slowly and remove the kombu just before it boils.
- 9
Add the bonito flakes, simmer for 1 minute, then turn off the heat and let them sink for 3 minutes.
- 10
Strain the dashi through a fine sieve and return it to the pot.
- 11
Soak the wakame in a little cold water for 5 minutes, then drain.
- 12
Heat the grill or a non-stick pan to medium-high, pat the salmon dry and cook skin side first for 4–5 minutes per side until it flakes and reaches 63 °C / 145 °F inside.
- 13
Squeeze the liquid out of the cucumber, then mix it with the rice vinegar and sugar.
- 14
Cut the tofu into small cubes and slice the spring onion finely.
- 15
Warm the dashi gently, add the tofu and wakame and heat for 2 minutes without boiling.
- 16
Turn off the heat, whisk the miso with a ladle of dashi until smooth and stir it back into the pot.
- 17
Fluff the rice with a paddle and serve in bowls.
- 18
Ladle the miso soup into bowls and scatter over the spring onion.
- 19
Plate the salmon and pickles, sprinkling the pickles with sesame seeds if using.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- For a vegan version, use kombu and dried shiitake dashi instead of bonito, and replace the salmon with pan-fried firm tofu or grilled aubergine.
- Swap the salmon for mackerel or trout fillets, salted and grilled the same way.
- Use an English cucumber cut into thin half-moons if you cannot find Japanese or mini cucumbers.
- For a quicker soup, use instant dashi granules dissolved in hot water instead of making dashi from scratch.
Storage
Refrigerate leftovers in separate airtight containers within 2 hours. Cool leftover rice quickly, eat it within 1 day and reheat it only once. Eat the salmon and soup within 3 days. Reheat rice, soup and salmon until steaming hot, but do not boil the miso soup. Silken tofu and the cucumber pickle do not freeze well, and the pickle is best eaten within a day as it softens.
Make ahead
Make and strain the dashi up to 3 days ahead and keep it covered in the fridge, adding tofu, wakame and miso just before serving. You can also rinse and soak the rice and salt-cure the cucumber a few hours in advance, keeping both chilled.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
Track this in BerryFit
Log Traditional Japanese Breakfast in one tap and see how it fits your remaining calories for today.
Or ask Coach Berry to change it
Allergens and nutrition
Contains: FishSoySesameGluten
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (711 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 531 kcal | 75 kcal |
| Protein | 33 g | 4.6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 61.7 g | 8.7 g |
| of which sugars | 4.7 g | 0.7 g |
| Fiber | 3 g | 0.4 g |
| Fat | 15.9 g | 2.2 g |
| of which saturated | 3.5 g | 0.5 g |
| Sodium | 859 mg | 121 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
