If you wonder how to eat canned mackerel and rice, this Japanese canned mackerel rice recipe is for you! It's simple and easy to make but so delicious!
Canned mackerel is a popular canned fish in Japan. It's a great source of fat and easy to cook with various vegetables, so we always keep them in our pantry.
If you love Japanese rice and mackerel, this authentic flavored rice is perfect for you!
- This recipe is for you if:
- You are looking for a canned mackerel recipe with rice.
- You are looking for a Japanese canned mackerel recipe.
- You wonder how to eat canned mackerel.
Let me show you how to make it! Let's get started!
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About this recipe
- Japanese mackerel recipe
- Canned mackerel and rice
- Cook rice on the stove (You can cook it in a rice cooker too)
- Cooking time：55 minutes (soaking time 30 mins)
📋 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients (amounts are in the recipe card below).
- Japanese short-grain rice: It's very starchy, soft, sticky, and sweet compared to long-grain rice. If you are not familiar with it, you can check this recipe: How to cook Japanese short-grain rice on the stove. You can also substitute it with other types of rice.
- Canned mackerel: This recipe uses the one in water and no salt. You can also use the one in oil (It might get a little greasy, though). See more about canned mackerel below.
- Other ingredients: Carrot, ginger, aburaage, and scallion. Aburaage is deep-fried tofu which adds a little chewy texture to the dish. If you can't find it at a store, you can omit it.
- Seasoning: Sake (Japanese rice wine), soy sauce, and salt.
Canned mackerel
Canned mackerel is great because it's:
- Nutrient-dense food such as healthy fat (DHA and EPA) and vitamin D.
- Versatile in various cooking methods and easy to cook with.
- Available all through the year.
- Reasonable.
DHA is an essential element for brain development, so if you have children, it's good to make a mackerel recipe for their growth.
It's not only nutritious but also easy to cook with. You can make omelette, stir fry, pasta, sandwiches, salad, patties, etc. The usage is endless.
🔪Instructions
Let's go over how to make it. You can also watch this video.
- Prepare rice: Rinse rice under running water 3-4 times quickly, and soak in water for more than 30 minutes. (Soaking is the key to having fluffy and chewy Japanese rice. If it's not soaked, the rice grain center will remain hard)
- Prepare ingredients: Shred carrots and ginger, cut aburaage into strips and chop scallions. Open the lid of the canned mackerel and drain the water. (If you want to remove the fat on the mackerel, wrap it up and dry with a paper towel.)
- Bring to a boil: Drain the water in the pot, add 2 cups of water (360ml), and turn on the heat over medium heat to bring to a boil. Then add sake, soy sauce, and salt.
- Stir: Stir with shamoji(Japanese rice spoon) or a big spoon.
- Simmer: Place carrots, ginger, aburaage, mackerel on top, cover, and simmer for 12 minutes on low heat. (We don't mix ingredients with rice at this point, we will at the end)
- Steam: Turn off the heat and leave it for 10 minutes with the lid on. (The rice inhales steam inside the pot and will become more fluffy.)
Open the lid, add the chopped green onion, and stir gently.
Enjoy it right away! It has a deep flavor and so tasty!
After adding the chopped scallion, I usually stir and make mackerel into small pieces to make it easy to eat for kids.
As shown in the photo above, you can serve it by keeping the mackerel's chunk and sprinkle the scallions on the top instead of mixing it all up. This one looks more photogenic. Either way is good.
Storage
If you have leftover, wrap one serving in cling wrap and keep them in the freezer. It will last up to one month.
Please warm it in the microwave when you eat it.
Dishes to serve with
Why don't you serve with these Japanese traditional dishes to make a complete meal?
- Tofu teriyaki and mushrooms
- Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette)
- Daikon miso soup
- Cucumber with shiokombu
Rice and Canned Mackerel FAQ
For Japanese rice, the ratio of rice: water is 1:1 or 1:1.1 depending on the rice. If it's too much water, then the rice will not be sticky and will be mussy.
Sure. In that case, put rice, water, and seasoning in a rice cooker pot, stir and place ingredients (except scallions) on top and cook. It will take about one hour.
Yes, you can. Some recipes use a whole can because the soup (or oil) contains plenty of nutrition from mackerel.
Mushrooms and root vegetables such as radish and burdock are great too. Hijiki (seaweed) is also good.
You can make omelette, stir fry, pasta, sandwiches, salad, patties, etc. There are so many ways to enjoy it.
Thanks for Stopping By
Does this recipe sound good to you? Canned mackerel is such a healthy food and goes well with rice so much. I hope you will try this Japanese-style dish and enjoy it.
I hope this recipe is helpful to you.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog♡ If you’ve tried this recipe (or any other recipe on the blog), please give it a star rating below!
Also feel free to leave comments if you have any questions. I love hearing from you!
Chef JA Cooks is a Japanese food blog that shares simple and healthy Japanese home cooking recipes include vegan and vegetarian. From traditional Japanese recipes to modern recipes with step-by-step instructions.
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📖 Recipe
Japanese Canned Mackerel Rice
Print Pin RateIngredients
- 360 ml Japanese short-grain rice, 300g or 2 Japanese rice cups
- 360 ml Water, 2 Japanese rice cups
- 1 Canned mackerel, 190g
- ½ Carrot, 80g
- 1 Aburaage, 25g
- 1 clove Ginger
- 1 Scallion
Instructions
- Prepare rice: Rinse rice under running water 3-4 times quickly, and soak in water for more than 30 minutes.
- Cut ingredients: Shred carrots and ginger, cut aburaage into strips, and chop scallions.
- Drain canned mackerel: Open the lid of the canned mackerel and drain the water.
- Bring to a boil: Drain the water in the pot, add 2 cups of water (360ml), and turn on the heat over medium heat to bring to a boil.
- Add seasoning: Add sake, soy sauce, and salt and stir.
- Simmer: Place carrots, ginger, aburaage, mackerel on top, cover, and simmer for 12 minutes on low heat.
- Steam: Turn off the heat and leave it for 10 minutes with the lid on.
- Stir: Open the lid, add the chopped scallion, and stir gently.
Video
Notes
- Equipment: Staub cocotte pot 18cm, Shamoji (rice paddle), Rice cup.
- Storage: Wrap one serving in cling wrap and keep them in the freezer. It will last up to one month.
- Portion: This recipe will make 4 servings for adults and 6 servings for children.
- Japanese rice cup is 180ml.
- After steaming for 10 minutes, don't forget to stir the rice. If you don't stir, the rice will get hard.
- If you want to use a rice cooker, rinse rice, mix seasoning, place ingredients on top and press the cook button.
Kirstin
Delicious! Thank you for this recipe!!
Chef JA
Thank you so much, Kirstin! I'm glad you like it!
Kate
Thank you for this recipe! I was trying to find a new recipe for canned mackerel and came across this one. I had all ingredients already (except aburaage), so I decided to give it a go. It was super tasty, and so easy to make. I'll definitely make it again!
JURI
You are very welcome, Kate! I'm so glad you found this recipe:)