Curry Doria (Rice Gratin)

In Japan, we have a rice gratin dish called Doria. What’s Doria? Surely it doesn’t sound like a Japanese word but it is a popular Japanese rice casserole.

Instructions:

3 rice cooker cups uncooked Japanese short-grain rice

½ onion

1 celery stalk

1 carrot

2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 bay leaf

6 oz ground beef (170 g)

6 oz ground pork (170 g)

kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)

freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp curry powder

1 ½ cups chicken/vegetable stock (360 ml)

2 Tbsp Tonkatsu sauce (Homemade Tonkatsu Sauce recipe)

2 Tbsp ketchup

2 Tbsp unsalted butter (separated)

½ cup Mozzarella cheese (120 ml; You can use other cheese like Parmesan.)

½ cup Romano cheese (120 ml; You can use other cheese like Parmesan.)

2 Tbsp panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

Parsley (for garnish)

Isntructions:

Gather all the ingredients. Start cooking rice. See How To Cook Rice (rice cooker or stovetop) for reference. You will also need 2 medium-size baking dishes or 1 large baking dish.
Mince the onion, celery, and carrot into small pieces.
Heat olive oil over medium heat and add crushed (or minced) garlic and a bay leaf (if you tear in half, the fragrance will come out faster).
Saute minced onion and celery over medium high heat until they are almost translucent.
Add carrot and cook until tender.
Add the meat and break it up, stirring occasionally. Cook until the meat is no longer pink.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add 1 Tbsp curry powder and 1 ½ cup chicken/vegetable broth. If the liquid doesn’t cover the ingredients, you will need to add more broth or water.
Cover with the lid and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover and skim off the foam, fat, scum off from the liquid. It’s important to get rid of them so that you can achieve a nice and clean soup. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 5 minutes.
Add 2 Tbsp Tonkatsu sauce, 2 Tbsp ketchup, and 1 Tbsp butter. The meat mixture should be a bit on saltier side than bland taste. You will be eating this dish with rice, so make sure it’s well seasoned. Cook and reduce the sauce until you see the bottom of the pan, about 10 minutes, and turn off the heat.
Use the other 1 Tbsp butter to grease the sides and bottom of the baking dish(es). Place the steamed rice in the baking dish.
Place the meat mixture (and sauce, if you like) on top of the rice. Then sprinkle both kinds of cheese. Finally sprinkle panko on top to add crispy texture.
Pre-heat the oven on broil for 5 minutes. Broil for 2-3 minutes until the cheese has melted and you see nice char on top. If you don’t have a broil setting, you can simply bake it until the top is golden brown. Everything is already cooked, so all you need to do is melt the cheese.
Sprinkle fresh parsley on top and serve immediately.