{{Short description|Japanese dish}} {{Italic title|reason=:Category:Japanese words and phrases}} {{Infobox food | name = ''Chazuke'' | image = File:Una chazuke by Kossy@FINEDAYS in Akabane.jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = ''Chazuke'' topped with unagi, nori and mitsuba | alternate_name = ''ochazuke'', ''cha-cha gohan'', ''bubuzuke'' | country = Japan | region = | creator = | course = | served = | main_ingredient = rice, green tea or dashi | variations = instant ochazuke | calories = | other = }}
'''''Chazuke''''' (茶漬け, ちゃづけ) or '''''ochazuke''''' (お茶漬け, from (o)''cha'' 'tea' + ''tsuke'' 'submerge') is a simple Japanese dish made by pouring green tea,<ref name=SOR>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_0PQHTgRVCEC&pg=PA213 Seductions of Rice – Jeffrey Alford, Naomi Duguid<!-- Bot generated title -->]. p. 213.</ref> dashi, or hot water over cooked rice.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OT8OSoiYyagC&pg=PA104 Dining Guide to Japan: Find the Right Restaurant, Order the Right Dish, and Pay the Right Price – Boye Lafayette De Mente<!-- Bot generated title -->]. pp. 104–105.</ref> Toppings are often added; common toppings include ''furikake'', nori (seaweed), sesame seeds, scallions, ''tsukemono'' (pickled vegetables), ''umeboshi'' (pickled plum), ''shiokara'' (pickled seafood), ''tarako'' (salted and marinated pollock roe), salted salmon, and wasabi.<ref name="SOR" />
''Chazuke'' provides a way to use leftover rice as a quick snack because it is easy to make. In Kyoto, ''ochazuke'' is known as '''''bubuzuke'''.''<ref name="KyotoMachiyaInn2016">{{cite web|title=Travel Info Bubuzuke|url=http://www.kyoto-machiya-inn.com/travel-info/bubu-zuke/|website=Machiya Residence Inn Kyoto|access-date=11 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708002034/http://www.kyoto-machiya-inn.com/travel-info/bubu-zuke/|archive-date=8 July 2015|date=2016}}</ref> Since the 1970s, packaged "instant ochazuke", consisting of freeze-dried toppings and seasonings, has become popular.
== History == thumb|left|''Chazuke'' with teapot and garnishes This dish first became popular in the Heian period of Japan, when water was most commonly poured over rice,<ref>Tale of Genji 21, 27, 47, 51, 54; Pillow Book 186: "If a man that's so drunk can't help staying overnight with me, I won't serve him even a hot water rice."</ref> but beginning in the Edo period, green tea (particularly bancha and sencha) became a popular substitute due to its aroma and mild umami flavor. <ref>[http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1444386/75 Morisada Mankoh (Ch.4)] attributes the origin of tea-rice to Edo during Meireki years, which became popular in Kansai area during Genroku.</ref>
It is said that the direct ancestor of today's chazuke is a method of eating that was adopted by servants (apprentices) who were employed by merchants at that time so that they could finish their meal very quickly during their work. At that time, the servants spent most of their day working, and their meal times were controlled by their superiors, so this form of eating naturally arose. Pickles were almost the only side dish that the apprentices were allowed to eat freely in the simple meals, and they were often piled up in huge bowls. Since there was still no technology to keep cooked rice warm as it is today, chazuke was a convenient way to enjoy cold rice and to finish a meal quickly.
[[File:Ume chazuke, at a Japanese-style Pub in Kakegawa, Shizuoka, Japan(2017-02-11).jpg|thumb|''Chazuke'' with umeboshi (salted plum)]]
From the Genroku period, "chazukeya" appeared as restaurants serving chazuke, and they were widely popular as fast food for common people. The Edo Meisho Zue, a travel guide written in the late Edo period, mentions chazuke restaurants plainly, suggesting they were common at the time.
<gallery widths="150px" heights="150px" mode="packed"> File:Shigure Chazuke.jpg|''Chazuke'' with nori and hamaguri clams File:Kyoto style chazuke by udono.jpg|''Chazuke'' with mushrooms File:Natto Chazuke.jpg|''Chazuke'' with nattō </gallery>
== See also == * Lei cha: a similar dish in Hakka cuisine
==References== {{reflist}}
{{commons category|Chazuke}} {{Rice dishes}}
Category:Japanese rice dishes Category:Tea dishes