Chazuke

Ingredients:

* 1/2 salmon steak
* salt to taste
* 1 1/2 cups hot water
* 1 1/2 tsp sencha, bancha, or hojicha [green tea]
* 1 bowl warm cooked rice
* 2-3 trefoil (mitsuba), cut into 1 1/2-inch (4-cm) lengths
* 1 tbsp croutons or any crunchy cereal
* Japanese horseradish (wasabi), optional

serves 1

Directions

1. Season the salmon with salt and leave for 10 minutes. Broil or grill 5-6 minutes, until slightly brown. Remove the skin and bones, if any, and break up the flesh into flakes.

2. Make the tea broth by adding hot water to the tea leaves.

3. Place the rice in a large bowl and sprinkle salmon flakes over the rice. Add the trefoil, croutons, and, if you wish, a dab of horseradish.

4. Pour as much hot tea as you want onto the rice and eat immediately.

Note: Ochazuke tastes even better when accompanied by good-quality Japanese salted pickled vegetables or any Western-style pickles. Cold ochazuke is recommended for summer. For this, use iced sencha, mizudashi-sencha, or any type of green tea that has been cooled down.