-
1
Submerge the four magewappa boxes and their lids in cold water for 10 minutes. Remove and drain. The wood should feel uniformly damp across the interior surface — a dry patch indicates insufficient soaking and must be corrected before proceeding.
-
2
Cook the rice to a firmness slightly short of the standard eating texture. The grains should hold their shape under gentle pressure but offer a chalky resistance at the centre. The subsequent steaming inside the box will carry the rice to its final texture; rice cooked to full softness now will become sodden in the box.
-
3
Divide the freshly cooked rice evenly among the four dampened magewappa boxes, filling each to approximately two-thirds capacity. Arrange the chosen seasonal topping — raw salmon and ikura for autumn-winter, or sliced bamboo shoot and sansai for spring — directly over the rice in a single layer. The toppings are placed raw or barely cooked: the steam rising from the hot rice will finish them inside the sealed box. Fit the lids firmly.
-
4
This is the step on which the dish lives or dies. Place the covered boxes in a low oven at 150°C or set them over a gentle steam source for 8 to 10 minutes. The heat must remain moderate and steady. Too high a temperature scorches the cedar, replacing the delicate terpene fragrance with a resinous, bitter note that cannot be corrected. The box is ready when, on lifting the lid, a clean, faint scent of fresh cedar rises with the steam — not sharp or resinous, but soft, almost sweet.
-
5
Bring the sealed boxes directly to the table. Lift each lid at the moment of service. The rice surface should appear glistening and separate, with the topping just set — salmon turned from translucent to a pale, barely opaque pink; ikura retaining its amber clarity. The cedar fragrance should be present but unassertive.