Slow-Roasted Tomato Rice

Tomato is one of my favorite summer vegetables (or technically it’s a fruit), and make a lot of slow-roasted tomatoes for various recipes. One of them is Cold Somen Noodles with Slow-Roasted Tomato, and here is another one! Once you have the slow-roasted tomatoes ready, all you need to do is basically make plain rice with Kamado-san, then top the rice with the slow-roasted tomatoes. You can gently break the tomatoes to mix with the rice. The umami of the tomatoes are so condensed after the long slow roasting, the rice itself doesn’t need any other flavoring or seasoning.

I love it with chopped Japanese herbs and chunky la-yu (recipe is found in my DONABE Cookbook), but commercial la-yu (spicy chili oil) or any hot sauce can work, too.

Vegan option

This is a vegan dish

Equipment

Kamado-san 3 rice-cup size

Servings

4 - 6

Ingredients

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

4 – 5 medium tomatoes
Sea Salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Rice

2 rice-cups (360 ml) short grain white rice, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) water

Japanese Herb Topping (suggested mix)

1 small knob ginger, peeled and cut into very fine shreds
2 – 3 shiso leaves, cut in half, then finely sliced crosswise
A small handful daikon sprouts, cut into 1/2″ (1.5 cm)
1 green onion, finely sliced crosswise

La-yu (Naoko’s Chunky La-yu from DONABE Cookbook is suggested, but commercial la-yu/ spicy chili oil is also okay)

Procedure

First, make the slow-roasted tomatoes. Pre-heat the oven at 300 F (150 C). *For convection oven, set the temperature at 250 F (125 C). Core each tomato and cut in half horizontally.
Line a baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil and place the tomatoes, cut side up. Season the open sides lightly with salt and pepper. Lightly drizzle the olive oil and gently rub by hand.
Roast the tomatoes in the oven for about 4 hours or until they are about 2/3 of the original size (check every hour after 2 hours). The bottom should not burn, so make sure not to overcook them. It could take shorter time depending on the oven.
Remove the tomatoes from the oven and let them cool down. Peel off the skin by hand (the skin should come off easily). Score the center of each piece with a petite knife, so they can break easily when mix with the rice at service. Set aside (save the juice with them, too.)
Cook plain rice. Combine the rice and the water in Kamado-san, and let the rice soak for 20 – 30 minutes.
Cover Kamado-san with both lids and cook over medium-high heat for 13 – 15 minutes, or until 2 – 3 minutes after the steam starts puffing out of the top lid.
Turn off the heat and let it stand for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the ingredients for the Japanese herb mix in a small bowl. Set aside.
Remove the lids of Kamado-san, and arrange the roasted tomato halves on the surface of the rice with some remaining juice.
Gently break the tomatoes with the spatula and mix with the rice. Serve into individual bowls and top with some Japanese herb mix and drizzle some la-yu, if you like.

The dish is ready!

Gently mix the tomatoes with rice with a rice paddle.

Serve with some aromatic herb mix and chunky la-yu.

Itadakimasu!

Tips

For this recipe, I make slightly firm rice (with a little less water to cook), because the tomatoes and its juice will be added after the rice is cooked and the texture will become a little softer after they are mixed together.
The slow-roasted tomatoes can keep in refrigerator for a few days easily, so I normally make a large batch for convenience.
You can enjoy this dish with Plain Brown Rice or Mochi Mugi Barley Rice, too.