I am happy to share my special recipe for Hijiki Gohan. This translates to Hijiki Seaweed Rice. It is packed with delicious goodness, and has many health benefits. And, it is so easy to cook !
What is Hijiki?
Hijiki is seaweed harvested mainly from the Japanese and Korean rocky coastlines. Hijiki has been a part of Japanese diet for centuries, and is usually sold in dry and shredded form.
Where can I get Hijiki?
You can buy dried Hijiki from Asian or Japanese grocery stores or you can get it online. For instance Hijiki Dried Seaweed is sold on Amazon.
Health benefit of Hijiki
It has been said that “Eating hijiki will make you live long” in Japan. Hijiki contains lots of dietary fibre, iron and calcium.
- It is high in Dietary fibre, and 100g of Hijiki contains 43.3g of fibre.
- Hijiki contains 12 times more calcium than milk.
- And it is also a good iron supplement. You can consume about 2.2mg of iron with 1 tbsp of dry hijiki
Variations of Hijiki Gohan
Another great thing about this Hijiki Gohan is that you can enjoy Hijiki Gohan in many different forms. You can turn Hijiki Gohan into Onigiri rice balls or wrap them like Inari sushi.
Can I make Hijiki Gohan completely Vegan?
YES! Just replace chicken mince (ground chicken) with “deep fried tofu” or “firm tofu” or “Konjac(Konnyaku)”
How to store Hijiki?
Hijiki usually comes in dried form, and you can keep them in an air tight container at room temperature. Or, you can freeze Hijiki Gohan in Onigiri rice ball form. It will keep for about a month.
Here are my instructions for Hijiki Gohan and if you like it, please rate it and leave a comment below. In addition, if you have any questions you can ask them below also. Don’t forget to check out my ” How to cook rice without a rice cooker” and “Inari sushi” recipes!
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Hijiki Gohan
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice *1
- 10 g dry hijiki *2
- 50 g edamame *3
- 50 g chicken mince (ground chicken)
- 1/2 carrot *or 40g
- 1 tbsp sesame seed oil
- a pinch of sesame seeds to top
- a pinch of bean sprouts to garnish
Seasoning
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Place dry hijiki in a bowl of 500 ml water. Let hijiki absorb water for about 30 minutes.
- Cook rice in a rice cooker. *4
- While rice is being cooked, cut carrot into matchsticks and shell edamame and set these aside. *5
- Place all seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and combine them all together.
- Heat sesame seed oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook chicken mince.
- Add carrot and edamame and cook for a further few minutes.
- Add all combined seasoning over the chicken, carrot and hijiki.
- Cook until all the liquid evaporates.
- Immediately after the rice is cooked, place the cooked hijiki and chicken over the rice, and put the lid back on.
- Let all the ingredients steam together in the heat remaining in the rice for 10 minutes.
- Open the lid of the rice cooker and stir the hijiki and chicken into the rice.
- Add edamame and stir well.
- Serve in a rice bowl and garnish with sesame seeds and bean sprouts.
Ermie says
Hi! This looks delicious. I can’t eat chicken though, any suggestions for substitutes?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Ermie, you can omit chicken all together or add fried tofu or something instead.
Ann Manatt says
I love hijiki rice. I used to eat it in Japan when I lived in Kyoto. I seem to remember they cooked it WITH the rice to make it shiny and smooth. Can you do it this way? Or am I remembering wrong?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Ann, there are many different recipes to make Hijiki gohan, so you can cook it with rice. I like adding it later for more bold flavour 😀
The Book of Food says
Couldn’t find the hijiki thing so I opted for the regular seaweed and dried mushrooms. I guess it’s not hijiki gohan anymore but it’s still extra good ! Thank you for sharing.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome 😀
Janis says
Hello … what are your thoughts on hijiki and arsenic? I have eaten if for years and just recently learned about some of its health concerns. Thanks.
Janis says
Please disregard my question. About arsenic I see you have already answered it with another reader. Thank you!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Janis, that’s ok, Thank you for asking 😀
Ann Manatt says
I can’t wait to try this! I lived in Kyoto for 4 years and am excited to see taste this again.
Ella says
I love Hijiki but also read that it’s high the more toxic inorganic form of arsenic, hence unable to import to many countries…. is there a way to identify if the Hijiki I purchase has been tested for arsenic levels?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Ella, so do I. I love hijiki and have been eating all my life. Japanese government aware that British government’s 2004 recommendation not to consume Hijiki because of the inorganic arsenic. Hijiki has been eaten as a traditional ingredient in Japan for a long time, but there have been no reports that eating Hijiki has caused adverse effects on health, such as arsenic poisoning. In addition, because hijiki is rich in dietary fiber and also contains essential minerals, in Japan, we are calling for a well-balanced diet instead of ingesting too much hijiki.(Food safety commision of Japan http://www.fsc.go.jp/fsciis/questionAndAnswer/show/mob07009000005) Tokyo bureau of social welfare and public health did own research and they concluded that British government recommendation does not include cooking method. Hijiki is usually dried and we reconstitute in bowl of water. According to Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, it is said that arsenic in hijiki elutes into water and that 38-96% of inorganic arsenic is removed. You can read more here https://www.maff.go.jp/e/index.html. So I am not expert on this and not sure if there is a way to identify the arsenic level of your purchase but arsenic level can be reduced.
Ana says
Seaweed is delicious, I love it. I’ve eaten it a few times but never cooked with it or for myself and also not sure what kinds they were and where they were from. I’m going to buy some hijiki seaweed and make this rice. It looks really good.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Ana. It is delicious 😀 and healthy. Hope you can find Hijiki nearby D:
Ana says
Thanks Shihoko!
And also your post on how to cook rice was very useful on how to cook rice that turns out good and in fact on how to cook it properly too =)
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome Ana 😀
Wilhelmina Wessel says
I can’t wait to give this a try!
Tatiana says
Interesting! There is so many health benefits in hijiki seaweed that i never knew about. I love how it tastes and will definitely make this dish as soon as i buy all the ingredients:)
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Tatiana. I am sure you will love this dish with all health benefit 😀
Dana says
Hi, this looks really yummy! You said you can freeze it in onigiri rice ball form – how would you defrost it? My riceballs are always very hard and unpleasant to eat after refrigerating, much less freezing them.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Dana, if you already know that you are going to freeze them, make and wrap onigiri while the rice is still warm and freeze them before they get cooled down completely. It will last about a month and I usually just microwave them.
Clayton Walsh says
This looks so very delicious and healthy, and i will be trying this recipe.
Is it any good for hair regrowth ? 🙂
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hello Clayton 😀 YES! definitely. Hijiki is believed to be one of the natural supplement for hair growth in Japan. We were often taught that eating Hijiki make our hair strong and shiny 😀 So your head can be shiny with hair 😀