Japanese Breakfast Asagohan Components

Ingredients

• 300 g Japanese short-grain white rice, rinsed until water runs clear
• 4 tbsp white or red miso paste
• 800 ml dashi, kombu-and-bonito or kombu-only
• 150 g firm tofu, cut into 1 cm cubes
• 5 g dried wakame, rehydrated in cold water, drained
• 4 fillets salmon or mackerel, skin-on, approximately 120 g each
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, for shio-yaki salting of fish
• 120 g tsukemono pickles, assorted; from a Japanese grocery
• 4 packs natto, each approximately 45 g; served at room temperature
• 4 sheets dried nori, toasted lightly over a gas flame before serving
• 4 tsp soy sauce, for seasoning at table
• 4 eggs, very fresh; for tamago kake gohan if substituting plain rice

Method

1. 1
   Rinse the rice until the water is almost clear. Cook by the absorption method: combine rice with 360 ml cold water in a heavy pot, bring to a boil, reduce to the lowest possible heat, cover tightly, and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and leave, lid on, for 10 minutes. The rice is done when each grain is distinct, fully swollen, and not sticky to the finger.
2. 2
   Salt the fish fillets with fine sea salt on both sides. Leave uncovered for 10–15 minutes; the surface will appear slightly moist and the salt will have begun to draw liquid. Grill skin-side down under a high grill or over a gas flame until the skin is blistered and crisped and the flesh is just opaque through to the bone. The fish is done when the skin releases from the grill without tearing and the flesh separates cleanly at the thickest point. This is where the dish lives or dies: shio-yaki fish that is steamed rather than properly grilled loses the textural and flavour contrast that anchors the meal.
3. 3
   Bring the dashi to a gentle simmer. Add the tofu cubes and rehydrated wakame and warm through for two minutes. Remove the pot from heat. Dissolve the miso paste in a ladleful of hot dashi, then stir back into the pot. Do not return to the boil. The soup is done when the miso aroma rises clearly and the tofu holds its shape without crumbling.
4. 4
   Toast each nori sheet briefly over a gas flame, passing it back and forth two or three times. The nori is done when it shifts from black to deep green and becomes crisp to the touch rather than pliable.
5. 5
   Arrange all components simultaneously on each tray or place setting: a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, the grilled fish on its own small plate, tsukemono pickles in a small dish, natto in its container or a small bowl, and the toasted nori to one side. Soy sauce is placed at the table. Components are served at their natural finished temperatures — the soup hot, the rice hot, the pickles cool, the natto at room temperature. The meal is complete when every component is present and no single element dominates the tray.