Doria is a Japanese rice gratin, consisting of steamed rice with a white sauce or cheese poured over it and the entire thing is then broiled until golden-brown. I truthfully never had doria until this year, and that is a HUGE shock to me, given that I’ve been to Japan over 5 times, lived there previously, and grew up in Torrance, California(the biggest Japanese suburb in America). But when I tried it for the first time, I was obsessed. The fluffy rice contrasting the toasty bechamel made for a lovely combination. Doria can be served with so many different fillings between the rice and bechamel, ranging from shrimp to veggies to even meat. In my case, I wanted to do something a little bit more special. I just found out about a butchery shop nearby my house that sold beef tongue, and I love working with offal and off cuts. One of my personal favorite dishes EVER was this red wine-braised beef tongue with potato gratin that was served to me in the now-shuttered Masa in Costa Mesa, which was a Japanese restaurant that introduced to me some of the most delicious dishes I have ever had. So I figured, since doria is a rice gratin, why not use some red wine-braised beef tongue as a filling, and the end result was arguably one of the most delicious savory dishes I have ever made!

For this recipe, it is not an hour-cook dish. Beef tongue, by nature of being a cartilaginous meat, requires hours of preparation. You have to boil it for at least one hour first before you can even peel the rubbery outer layer of the beef tongue off and portion it out, and then even after that, you still need to braise it with the red wine, aromatics, and demi glas so that the tongue will take on other flavors and get fully tenderized. With the rice, it was very simply cooked in a rice cooker – if you do not own one, you can try those same ratios in a covered pot on the stove at medium heat for 17-20 minutes and you should be able to get similar results. And with the bechamel, I opted for white cheddar, because I love the sharpness of the cheddar, and how that cuts through the richness of the entire dish. You can totally use a different cheese than white cheddar too, or no cheese at all if you want a simpler-tasting bechamel! I will say that this doria is perfect winter comfort food, and something that I would easily eat on a cold day with bad weather just to help me feel better.

For the beef tongue stew:
1 shallot, peeled and diced
5 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1oz olive oil
a pinch of salt
8oz beef stock
8oz red wine
1oz tomato paste
2oz crushed tomatoes
1 beef tongue
2oz veal demi glas

In a large stockpot, sweat out the shallot, garlic, and bay leaf in olive oil and salt until the shallot is translucent. Deglaze the bottom of the pot first with the beef stock. Then add to the pot the beef tongue, adding in just enough water to submerge the tongue. Boil the beef tongue in the liquid for 1 1/2 hours, covered, on low heat. Fish the beef tongue out of the liquid and shock it in ice water. Trim the thick exterior of the beef tongue and with the more tender interior, cut that into 1/2-inch cubes. Return the cubes to the stockpot and add to that the red wine, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and veal demi glas. Reduce everything on medium-high heat, uncovered, for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom of the pot from charring. You want the end product to be cubes of beef tongue glazed in a dark, rich liquid.

For the rice:
1 cup white rice
a pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups water, plus more for rinsing

Place the rice grains in a strainer and wash with running water until the water coming from the rice is clear. Place the rice into a rice cooker with salt and the 1 1/4 cups water and follow the rice cooker’s instructions.

For the white cheddar bechamel:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 cups whole milk
2oz finely diced white cheddar
black pepper
salt

In a pan on medium heat, stir together the olive oil and flour first until the flour begins to brown lightly. Add to that the milk, whisking to make sure that the lumps of flour fully dissolve into the liquid. Then fold through that the cheese, black pepper to taste, and salt to taste, mixing until the cheese is fully melted into the liquid as well.

For assembly:
In either a donabe clay pot or an oven proof baking vessel, start with layering in the rice, then the stew, and covering the top with the bechamel. Broil the doria for 5 minutes, or until the top begins to get toasty.