Takenoko Gohan (Japanese Bamboo Rice)

Takenoko Gohan is a traditional Japanese rice dish that allows you to fully enjoy the flavor and texture of bamboo shoots. Experience the perfect harmony between the rice and bamboo shoots.

Takenoko Gohan is a Japanese mixed rice dish made by cooking rice with bamboo shoots. "Takenoko" means bamboo shoots, and "Gohan" refers to cooked rice. It is especially popular in spring when bamboo shoots are in season.

While this dish is commonly made with fresh bamboo shoots in Japan, I'm sharing a recipe here that uses packaged, pre-boiled bamboo shoots. This is because fresh bamboo shoots tend to develop a strong bitter taste as time passes after harvest. Once they become bitter, they are considered inedible—especially in regions where bamboo shoots don't grow naturally, making them hard to find.

Fresh bamboo shoots need to be boiled with rice bran in plenty of water to remove their bitterness, but packaged bamboo shoots have already had this bitterness removed, which makes the cooking process much simpler. Enjoy the delightful combination of bamboo shoots and rice in a casual way.

This dish is more than just a delightful combination of bamboo shoots and rice—it also makes perfect sense from a nutritional perspective.

Bamboo shoots contain an umami component called tyrosine. This tyrosine not only activates the brain and boosts motivation but also helps with recovery from fatigue when consumed with glucose. In other words, it makes sense to pair bamboo shoots, which are rich in tyrosine, with rice, which is converted into glucose during digestion. Due to their benefits, this dish is also known as a great choice for coping with stress experienced by newcomers and people with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in Japan.

By the way, you might find white clumps attached to your bamboo shoots after cutting them; these are crystallized tyrosine. You can eat them as they are, but if you are concerned about their appearance or texture, feel free to remove them.

Additionally, the black spots on bamboo shoots are natural pigments. They are also safe to eat.

There is something important to note about bamboo shoots: their texture varies depending on the part. The upper portion tends to be softer, while the lower portion is tougher. Therefore, you should pay attention to how you cut them.

For the upper section, it is best to cut them along the fibers. By not cutting through the fibers, you can better enjoy their crisp, tender texture.

On the other hand, for the middle to bottom section, it is recommended to slice them against the fibers. This allows you to enjoy the texture of bamboo shoots while retaining their pleasant firmness.

When using packaged bamboo shoots instead of fresh ones, the bamboo flavor tends to be milder. Therefore, when making takenoko gohan with them, it is recommended to add aburaage (deep-fried tofu sheets) or ground chicken to enhance the dish's richness. In this recipe, I used aburaage.

When adding aburaage, it is best to finely chop it so that it doesn't interfere with the texture of the bamboo shoots. If using ground chicken, use about 3.5 ounces (100g). These ingredients are also commonly used when preparing the dish with fresh bamboo shoots.

The tool you need to make this dish is the same as the one used to cook regular Japanese rice: a pot or a rice cooker.

In Japan, while most households have a rice cooker, it is less common outside of Japan, so I’m sharing a recipe using a pot here. Of course, you can also use a rice cooker; in that case, simply replace the pot with the rice cooker in the recipe.

To learn more about How to Cook Japanese Rice on the Stove, please refer to the linked page.

Ingredients

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Instructions

🕒 Total: 1 hr hr

If you already have bonito dashi or another type of dashi, skip steps 3 and 4. In that case, use ⅔ cup (160 ml) of your dashi for 2 servings.

Step 1
Place a sieve over a bowl, add rice, and rinse it with water. Repeat this process several times, changing the water each time.

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Step 2
Soak the rinsed rice in water in a pot for at least 30 minutes.

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Step 3
Put water (as specified in the recipe) in a pot and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, add bonito flakes, and let it simmer for 3 minutes.

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Step 4
Turn off the heat and strain the mixture through a sieve lined with paper towels or a cloth (such as cheesecloth). Alternatively, if you don't mind some fine bonito flakes remaining, you can simply use a fine-mesh strainer. Bonito dashi is now ready.

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Step 5
Cut the bamboo shoots into bite-sized pieces along the fibers for the upper part, about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. For the bottom to middle part, slice them into bite-sized pieces against the fibers, also about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Finely chop the aburaage.

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Step 6
Discard the soaking water from the pot. Combine the drained rice with the dashi (⅔ cup/160 ml per 2 servings) and seasonings (sake, mirin, salt, and light soy sauce). Then, evenly distribute the bamboo shoots and aburaage on top.

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Step 7
Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking for 10 minutes, or slightly longer for larger quantities (11 minutes for 4 servings, 12 minutes for 6 servings).

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Step 8
Turn off the heat and let it steam for 10 minutes with the lid still on.

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Step 9
Serve in individual bowls and top with sansho leaves to taste.

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To store

You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.