Okowa: Steamed Glutinous Rice and the Tradition of Celebratory Grain

Ingredients

• For the sekihan base
• 360 g mochi-gome (glutinous rice), soaked overnight in adzuki cooking liquid
• 100 g adzuki beans, rinsed
• 800 ml cold water, for cooking the adzuki beans
• 1 small piece red shiso (akajiso), added to adzuki cooking water to deepen colour
• For steaming
• 1 tbsp sake, for sprinkling at the halfway point
• To finish
• 1 tsp black sesame salt (gomashio), to serve alongside
• 1 small pile fine salt, to serve alongside — for visual contrast against black sesame

Method

1. 1
   Place the adzuki beans and red shiso in 800 ml cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook until the beans are just tender but the skins remain wholly intact — approximately 30–40 minutes. The cooking liquid will be a deep, saturated crimson. Drain, reserving both the beans and the liquid separately. Beans that have burst or collapsed must be discarded; they will discolour the rice unpleasantly and fail in texture.
2. 2
   Allow the adzuki cooking liquid to cool to room temperature. Rinse the mochi-gome briefly under cold water, then submerge it completely in the cooled red cooking liquid. Leave to soak for a minimum of 8 hours — overnight is preferred. The grains will absorb the liquid and turn a uniform deep rose-red; grains that remain white at the centre after soaking indicate under-hydration and will not cook evenly in the steamer.
3. 3
   This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: prepare the seiro bamboo steamer by lining it with a piece of damp cotton cloth (sarashi) or baking paper pierced with small holes. Fill the steamer pot with water to a level that leaves a clear gap beneath the basket — the basket must not contact the water. Bring the water to a rapid boil. Drain the soaked mochi-gome and spread it evenly across the lined basket. Nestle the reserved adzuki beans across the surface. Cover tightly, sealing in the steam, and steam over a continuous rapid boil for 20–25 minutes. At no stage should the basket touch the water; if the rice steams by immersion rather than by vapour, it will become waterlogged and lose all structural integrity.
4. 4
   After 20–25 minutes, lift the lid and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sake evenly over the surface of the rice. Replace the lid immediately. Steam for a further 20–25 minutes. The rice is done when the grains are uniformly translucent, deeply red throughout with no opaque white cores, and yield a dense, cohesive chewiness when pressed gently between two fingers.
5. 5
   Remove the steamer basket from the heat. Turn the okowa out onto a wooden or lacquer serving vessel. Serve immediately with black sesame salt on one side and a small pile of fine salt on the other — the contrast of white and black seasonings against the red rice is the dish's ceremonial presentation.