Tai Meshi — Japanese Sea Bream Rice in the Rice Cooker
Tai meshi is rice cooked with sea bream. In Japan it’s a celebration dish — tai sounds like the end of medetai, “joyful” — and whole grilled sea bream turns up at weddings, New Year and a baby’s first meal. But the version most families actually make is much simpler: one fillet, a piece of kombu, and the rice cooker.
That’s this one. A single sea bream fillet from the supermarket, seared in a frying pan, set on top of seasoned rice and cooked on the normal setting. I followed a basic rice-cooker recipe from Kurashiru, a Japanese recipe site, but used what was in my kitchen — including a sweet Kyushu soy sauce instead of the light soy the recipe calls for, which is why my rice came out darker than the photos you’ll see elsewhere.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- One fillet flavors the whole pot. The fish cooks on top of the rice, and its juices run down into every grain.
- The rice cooker does the work. Sear the fish, pour in the seasoning, press the button.
- It tastes like a special occasion. Sea bream rice is a celebration dish in Japan, but this version is a weeknight dinner.
- Five pantry seasonings. Soy sauce, sake, mirin, salt and a piece of kombu. No dashi to make separately.
What is Tai Meshi?
Tai meshi (鯛めし) means “sea bream rice.” Tai is red sea bream, the pink-skinned white fish that is Japan’s lucky fish, and meshi is a casual word for rice or a meal. It belongs to the takikomi gohan family — rice cooked together with seasoning and ingredients in one pot, like my salmon takikomi gohan — but the fish is the whole point, so it’s kept simple.
Two Kinds of Tai Meshi
If you search for tai meshi you’ll see a lot about Matsuyama and Ehime, the region in Shikoku most famous for sea bream. Ehime actually has two completely different dishes with the same name:
- Cooked tai meshi (the Matsuyama and Hojo style) — a whole sea bream cooked on top of the rice in a clay pot, then flaked through it. This is the one people make at home, and what this recipe is.
- Uwajima tai meshi — raw sea bream sashimi dipped in a soy-based sauce with raw egg, then poured over hot rice. More of a restaurant dish, and it needs very fresh sashimi-grade fish.
A whole fish in a clay pot is beautiful, but it means scaling, gutting and a lot of bones. Using a fillet in the rice cooker gets you most of the flavor for a fraction of the work, which is why it’s how a lot of Japanese households do it now.
Ingredients (Serves 3 to 4)
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese short-grain rice | 2 rice-cooker cups (360 ml) | Rinsed and soaked 30 minutes |
| Sea bream fillet | 1 to 2 fillets | Skin on. I used one |
| Salt | 1/3 tsp | For salting the fish |
| Vegetable oil | 1 tbsp | For searing |
| Soy sauce | 2 tbsp | Light (usukuchi) soy for pale rice; I used regular |
| Sake | 2 tbsp | Cooking sake is fine |
| Mirin | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | A pinch | For the rice |
| Kombu | 1 piece, about 5 cm / 2 inch | Dried kelp |
| Water | To the 2-cup line | |
| Green onion | 2 to 3 stalks | Chopped. Or mitsuba and shredded ginger |
These are the bottles I actually used: a sweet Kyushu soy sauce (Fundokin’s Golden Murasaki, which is what we have at home), cooking sake, mirin, a bag of salt with added umami, and a piece of kombu. The kombu is doing the job dashi would normally do, so don’t skip it — any dried kombu on Amazon works. Mirin on Amazon adds a gentle sweetness and a little shine to the rice.
Outside Japan, sea bream is sold as red sea bream, madai or porgy. If you can’t find it, any mild white fish fillet with skin works the same way — red snapper, branzino or sea bass are all good.
How to Make Tai Meshi
Step 1: Rinse and Soak the Rice, Salt the Fish
Rinse the rice until the water runs mostly clear, then soak it for at least 30 minutes and drain. Rice cooked with soy sauce absorbs water more slowly than plain rice, and the soak keeps it from coming out hard in the middle.
While it soaks, sprinkle the salt over both sides of the fish and leave it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Then pat it dry with a paper towel. The salt draws out moisture and any fishy smell along with it.
Step 2: Sear the Sea Bream
Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and put the fish in skin-side down. Cook until the skin is golden, then flip it and give the other side about a minute. It doesn’t need to be cooked through — it finishes in the rice.
Searing is the step that makes this taste like grilled sea bream rather than boiled fish. The browned skin flavors the rice, and it firms the fillet up so it holds together in the cooker.
Step 3: Season the Rice and Add Water
Put the drained rice into the rice cooker pot. Add the soy sauce, sake, mirin and pinch of salt first, lay the kombu on top, and only then add water up to the 2-cup line. Give it one stir.
The order matters. The seasonings count as part of the liquid, so if you fill to the line with water and then add them, you’ve added too much and the rice goes soft.
Step 4: Put the Fish on Top and Cook
Set the seared fillet on top of the rice, skin-side up, and cook on the normal white rice setting (or the takikomi mixed-rice setting if yours has one). Don’t stir once the fish is in.
With the darker Kyushu soy sauce, my liquid was a deep orange-brown. With light soy sauce it would be much paler, and the finished rice would be closer to a light gold.
Step 5: Remove the Bones and Flake the Fish
When the rice is done, lift the fish and kombu out onto a plate or tray. Pull off the skin and go through the flesh carefully for bones — sea bream has some thick ones along the center and small pin bones near the belly.
Return the flaked fish to the pot and fold it through the rice gently with a paddle, cutting rather than stirring so the grains don’t get mashed. Leave some bigger pieces — it’s nice to find a chunk of fish in your bowl.
Step 6: Serve
Scoop it into rice bowls and top with chopped green onion. The recipe I followed uses mitsuba (Japanese wild parsley) and thin strips of fresh ginger soaked in water, which is the more classic finish. I had green onions, so that’s what went on.
Tips and Variations
- Use two fillets if you can. One fillet for two cups of rice flavors it well, but the fish is spread thin. Two gives you fish in every bite.
- Light soy for the classic look. Usukuchi soy sauce is saltier but paler, and keeps the rice a delicate gold. Regular soy works fine; the rice is just darker.
- Add ginger to the pot. A few thin slices of ginger cooked with the rice take away any fishiness and make it smell wonderful.
- Keep the kombu. Slice the cooked kombu thin and simmer it with soy sauce and sugar — or just eat it with the rice.
- Don’t overfill the cooker. Mixed rice foams more than plain rice. Most rice cookers mark a lower maximum for takikomi — mine says three cups.
What to Serve It With
Tai meshi is the main event, so everything around it should be light. This was our dinner the night I made it:
- Gobo salad, left over from the night before — the plate at the back.
- Chilled tofu with green onion, in the little green bowl.
- Shredded cabbage and some quick cucumber pickles.
- Miso soup or a clear soup, if you want a full set.
If you like cooking rice this way, corn rice is the summer version: same rice cooker, even less work.
Storing and Reheating
Tai meshi keeps in the fridge for 1 to 2 days in a covered container. Because it has fish in it, don’t leave it in the rice cooker on keep-warm overnight.
It freezes well. Wrap single portions in plastic wrap while still warm, freeze flat, and use within a month. Reheat in the microwave straight from frozen, covered. Leftovers also make very good onigiri for the next day’s lunch.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is tai meshi?
Japanese sea bream rice: rice cooked with soy sauce, sake, mirin and kombu, with sea bream cooked on top and then flaked through it. It’s traditionally a celebration dish, and a specialty of Ehime in Shikoku.
Can you make tai meshi in a rice cooker?
Yes, and it’s the easiest way. Add the seasonings to rinsed rice, top up with water to the normal line, lay the kombu and a seared sea bream fillet on top, and cook on the white rice or mixed-rice setting.
What’s the difference between Matsuyama and Uwajima tai meshi?
Matsuyama-style tai meshi is cooked: the fish is cooked with the rice and flaked through it. Uwajima-style is raw: sashimi-grade sea bream is dipped in a soy and raw egg sauce and served over hot rice. This recipe is the cooked kind.
What fish can I use instead of sea bream?
Any mild white fish with skin: red snapper, branzino, sea bass or porgy. Avoid oily fish like mackerel, which will overpower the rice. For a different flavor entirely, salmon works well — see my salmon takikomi gohan.
Why is my tai meshi mushy?
Almost always too much liquid. Add the soy sauce, sake and mirin to the rice first, then add water up to the line — not the other way around.
Tai Meshi (Japanese Sea Bream Rice)
Ingredients
Method
- Rinse the rice until the water runs mostly clear, soak for at least 30 minutes, then drain.
- Sprinkle the salt over both sides of the fish and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Pat dry with a paper towel.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sear the fish skin-side down until golden, then flip and cook the other side for about 1 minute. It does not need to be cooked through.
- Put the rice in the rice cooker pot. Add the soy sauce, sake, mirin and a pinch of salt first, lay the kombu on top, then add water up to the 2-cup line. Stir once.
- Set the seared fish on top, skin-side up, and cook on the normal white rice or mixed-rice setting. Do not stir once the fish is in.
- When the rice is done, lift out the fish and kombu. Remove the skin and all bones, flake the flesh, return it to the pot and fold it through the rice gently. Serve topped with green onion.
