Chanterelle Rice (Rice Cooker Method)

An easy and delicious rice cooker recipe is elevated with chanterelle mushrooms. Each grain of rice is perfectly cooked and seasoned with the gentle aroma of golden chanterelle mushrooms.

I picked up some dried chanterelle mushrooms from a local European deli among other spoils (? grocery stores are truly my candy store). My first thought was to make egg pasta with chanterelle cream but after watching a few episodes of Iron Chef (the original series) where rice featured in some of the dishes, I was moved by how fluffy and good seasoned rice looked.

This dish is similar to matsutake (pine mushroom) rice. The simplicity of the dish allows the delicate flavor of the chanterelle mushrooms to really shine. The rice retains a slightly chewy texture and absorbs the umami of the chanterelles.

The rice cooker not only cooks each grain of rice perfectly to al dente, but makes this a set it and forget it recipe with minimal hands-on time.

What is chanterelle and where can you get some?

Chanterelle is a wild mushroom which grows in various regions around the word. When researching I found that chanterelles are mycorrhizal mushrooms – meaning that they have a symbiotic relationship with the roots of trees where they grow – I think that is really beautiful!

I find taste so hard to describe – especially the taste of mushrooms. The back packaging of the dried chanterelles I used describes them as having an “intense and fruity aroma reminiscent of peach”. For me, chanterelles have that umami flavor common to many wild mushrooms, sweet and earthy with subtle nutty undertones. The aroma evokes the image of a ray of morning sun hitting the damp conifer forest floor.

Chanterelles (fresh and dried) can be purchased from European grocery stores, specialty stores, or wild food stores. I sometimes see chanterelles at farmers markets. If you are lucky enough to live in areas where they grow, you could even try foraging for them! ???

Cooking in a rice cooker and using the rice cooker cup

This recipe uses a rice cooker and measures rice using the “rice cooker cup”. The rice cooker is an essential appliance in many Asian households. All of the rice cookers I have encountered in my life comes with a special cup for measuring rice. Apparently this is rooted in a traditional unit for rice that have become standard with the development of rice cookers. One rice cooker cup is exactly 180 ml or approximately 3/4 metric cup or 6 oz.