Japanese Culture in New York - Chopsticks NY

Recipe courtesy of Masaru Fukuda

Kayu is a Japanese-style porridge made of rice. Soft and easy to digest, kayu is popular as a light meal late at night or when people don’t have much of an appetite (after drinking sake or when ill, for example). This month, Masaru Fukuda, the owner and chef of Hibino Japanese Restaurant in Brooklyn, introduces green tea porridge. It is simple to make and allows you to customize its flavor by using your favorite toppings. Specializing in Kyoto-style home cooking, Mr. Fukuda adheres to his philosophy, “Spare no work to make tasty dishes.” Even for this modest dish, he roasts green tea to add an appetizing, nutty flavor.

Hibino Japanese Restaurant

333 Henry St. (bet. Atlantic Ave. & Pacific St.)

Brooklyn, NY 11201

TEL: 718-260-8052

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Ingredients (serves one person)

2 cups steamed rice

1.5 oz. green tea leaves

3 cups water or dashi broth

Salt to season

Your favorite side dishes for toppings*

*Common toppings among Japanese are thick-flavored, small dishes such as tsukemono (Japanese-style pickles) and tsukudani (food boiled down in sweetened soy sauce).

**Empty teabags shown above are available at Japanese grocery stores.

Steps

1. Roast green tea leaves in pan until brown (about five minutes). Since tea leaves are easily burnt, it is best to remove the pan from the heat once the temperature gets high and bring it back to the heat once it has cooled down.

2. Put roasted green tea in teabag** and boil in water or dashi broth until tea flavor permeates water or dashi broth.

3. Take teabag out of tea soup, add steamed rice, and boil for a couple of minutes. If you like soft porridge, boil it longer.

4. Serve porridge with your favorite toppings.