Doria: Japanese Style Gratin

5:17:00 PM cc 0 Comments

This is my first attempt at Doria. A dish I've heard about for awhile but have never seen it at a restaurant or even knew what it consisted of. Then recently a Japanese cooking channel on YouTube did a video on it, and it inspired me to want to try it out.

A typical gratin (a technique meaning to top a dish with a brown crust) dish the main ingredient is a starch with a milky sauce and topped cheese which you brown in the oven. Doria is not different but instead of potatoes its rice with meat and vegetables like friend rice. You layer on top of it bechamel sauce also known as white sauce and white gravy or country gravy. Then you top it off which whatever cheese you like and bake it in the oven till the top is golden brown crispy and delicious!

My first try came out delicious and the best thing about Doria is that you can customize however you desire like a pizza. Its great for anyone and its not an expensive dish to make. Plus you can really just eye ball the amount of ingredients to use. Nobody cooks at home so I had some really limited supplies, but was able to make it. 

First I made the rice. I didn't have any vegetables in my fridge so I used hotdogs, eggs, and deli ham slices to mix into my rice. Melted a bit of butter on a pan and added the chopped meats. Cook them through and I added an eggs and stirred till cooked. I added a bit of oil so the egg won't stick to the pan so much. Then I added leftover rice and combined everything. Season with salt and pepper and be sure to taste it before you finish cooking the rice. If you want to season the rice with sauces or whatever you can. The rice doesn't need to be tasty and if it tastes a little bland that's ok since the white sauce and cheese will balance that out. So don't over do it with the seasoning.

I don't have an oven proof dish or any dish or baking pan that will fit into my toaster oven so I used aluminum foil and made it look like a dish. I used a plastic takeout box to help shape it and keep its shape. Then I placed the rice into it. Now for the white sauce!

On low heat melt a bit of butter and then add the same amount as the butter with flour. Stir till it combines and starts bubbling. This is known as a roux. If this is your first time making something like this I advise taking it slowly because it can be easy to mess up especially if you over cook it. Still on low heat, slowly add milk till your desired amount and stir. This should cover the top of the rice so make enough to do that. I make a little less then needed but that's ok. Cook the mixture and stirring it till it thickens to your liking. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Now you need a soup stock to season the sauce. Traditional Doria uses consomme soup or powder, but if that's not what you have or can find using chicken stock or bullion. Or if you're like me and don't have any of these you can also get seasonings from ramen or any dry boxed/bagged meals. I only had beef ramen so I used a teaspoon of the soup seasonings into the white sauce. Be sure to taste it and season it to your liking! You can get creative with white sauces if you like. Use cornstarch and water if the roux is not enough to thicken the sauce.


Now you can top the dish with cheese. I have shredded cheddar jack cheese and sprinkled it on top. Set my toaster oven to 450F on broil and left the makeshift foil dish in for about 10 minutes. And now its finished!! Its so delicious and its definitely something I will make again. Thanks for reading! :D