Shiifuudo doria / seafood rice gratin

Yummy, yummy, yummy. Add lots of spinach to lighten the rich, heavy sauce.

<Ingredients>

For tomato rice
1 180 cc cup* rice
Approx. 190 cc vegetable or chicken bouillon
1 tsp butter
1/4 medium onion
1 ripe tomato
2-3 tsp ketchup
1 tsp olive oil (not in photo)
*180 cc = 1 rice cooker cup

For topping/sauce
150-200 cc bechamel sauce
1/3-1/2 bunch spinach (100 g in photo)
6 prawns
2-3 small calamari (cut into rings 2-3 cm wide in photo)
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil (not in photo)
1 tbsp white wine
Salt (optional) & pepper to taste
15-20 g gruyere cheese

Butter (to coat gratin dishes, not in photo)


<Directions>
1.

Wash rice, drain, and let sit for 30-60 minutes.

When ready to cook, add bouillon to slightly below 1-cup mark. Put butter, and cook.

When done, gently fluff.

2.
When ready to cook gratin, preheat oven to 475 F/245 C.


3.

Finely chop onion. Peel and core tomato, and dice.

Cut calamari, clean prawns with potato starch (saving shells).

Coat gratin dishes with butter.

4.

In a frying pan, heat olive oil, and saute onion on medium low heat until somewhat transparent.

Add tomato and prawn shells, and saute until tomato crumbles.

Separate diced tomato with spatula to help break it up.

Discard prawn shells.

5.

Add rice, and mix well.

Add ketchup, first 2 tsp, mix well, taste, and add more as necessary. 

Put in gratin dishes.

6.

Prepare topping/sauce. Cut spinach into sections of 3-4 cm. 

In a frying pan, heat olive oil and butter.

Add prawns and calamari, and saute on medium heat until somewhat opaque. 

Add salt (optional) and pepper, stir, and add white wine.

Add bechamel sauce, and mix. If sauce is very loose, reduce somewhat to the consistency of loose pancake batter.  

Add spinach, and mix well.

7.

Spread sauce over rice.

Grate gruyere cheese over sauce.

8.

Bake for several minutes until top is golden.

Serve hot.

<Notes>

• Firm rice works better for gratin, so use less bouillon compared to the water you would use if making rice to accompany Japanese food (especially if using short-grain Japanese rice).
• Prawn shells (and heads, if available) add a nice flavor to the tomato base for rice.
• This can be prepared halfway through in advance, even a day ahead, and baked when needed. If you do prepare it in advance, keep the rice and topping/sauce separate, and assemble before baking.