I have always wanted to try this dish, it’s just that I have never gotten around to making it until now. This reminds me of my Lolo Sianing (maternal grandfather), I remember when I was about five seeing him pour hot water over a bowl of cold rice with some dried fish on it. I was fascinated to say the least. I even tried to imitate what he did much to my mom’s dismay, thinking I was playing with my food. I added way too much water which in turn made it inedible. The dish that he was eating by the way was called “kanin labay”, kanin is rice in Tagalog. I also found out that labay which is a very uncommon Tagalog word means to eat with broth.

So when I discovered this dish, I thought my Lolo knew what he was doing back then. Ochazuke is a very traditional Japanese dish wherein you pour hot green tea over rice with savory toppings. Although I read water was used during the Heian period and it was just at the beginning of the Edo period that tea was used instead. This is also what they do at home with leftover rice.

To make, place a scoop of rice in a bowl. Then sprinkle some furikake or Ochazuke seasoning (freeze dried toppings) which can be found in Asian stores. Top with some flaked salmon, I used smoked salmon for this recipe. Then carefully pour hot green tea over the rice. Serve immediately. I think you can really get creative and use different types of toppings. I might even use Filipino dried fish to make it more pinoy next time.

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This is something that you can easily put together if your are in a hurry and is very light on the stomach too.

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