Need a quick snack or just something light to fill your stomach after a late night?  Just want something but don’t know what?   Here is a quick and easy solution that is satisfying, filling you with the goodness of tea.

Ochazuke is a simple, rustic comfort food has been enjoyed in Japan for over 1000 years.  Created from prepared green tea (ocha) poured over rice (zuke “submerged”), this dish may be topped with other ingredients such as fish, vegetables and other light savory ingredients.  Quite often these ingredients will be leftovers from a meal, but they can also be purposefully prepared for this nourishing comfort food.

In Japan, Ochazuke ingredients may include leftover fish such as salmon, broken rice cakes, shredded nori, toasted sesame seeds, wasabi, soy sauce or dashi (sauce made from dried kelp and bonito fish flakes).   Quite often this tea soup is made to finish up leftovers at the end of a meal; as a hangover or jetlag remedy and as a satisfying late-night snack.    

Ochazuke has been a yummy go-to meal/snack for me since I discovered it.  I have Westernized it by using rice or noodles as a base and adding green peas, slivered carrots, scallions, and baby spinach.    The important ingredient I have kept is good quality Japanese green tea.  Genmaicha (Bancha green tea with toasted and popped rice) is my favorite adding its buttery, toasty flavor to the bowl.  Sencha green tea, vegetal and grassy, and Hojicha (roasted bancha) with its toasty, nutty flavors are also delicious choices for this simple dish.  Consider using  a long-oxidized oolong for a satisfying change.

The best part?  No recipe.  This dish is made from what you have in the fridge or what you enjoy.    Once you have added this dish to your repertoire, you will never look at leftovers the same way again.