Ochazuke Tetsuaka bowl

Ochazuke is a traditional Japanese dish, served in a bowl in which tea or broth is poured over rice. It's a comforting staple for those wishing to eat a light but hot meal in cold weather, or even serve it as a cold tea in summer (preferring ryokucha or mugicha teas).

"Ocha" means tea and "zuke" means submerged. Consequently, Ochazuke essentially means submerged in tea. According to purists, origins of ochazuke can be traced back to the Heian period (794-1185), when people used to drink tea and eat rice.

In the middle of the Edo period (1603-1687), Japanese people began to add garnishes, such as Umeboshi plums, cooked salmon, ikura salmon roe and tsukemonos. Original broth was water; this soon evolved into tea and then, in the 20th century, dashi, to enhance flavors. Today, Japanese people generally eat rice ochazuke with green tea or dashi, accompanied by tsukemonos (pickled vegetables) or cooked salmon, then nori seaweed.

Main liquids used for ochazuke are green tea or ryokucha, genmaicha tea, hojicha tea, sencha tea and dashi broth. Japanese people generally eat Ochazuke as an appetizer or to round off a hearty meal.