Doria (ドリア): Japanese Style Rice Gratin

Doria (ドリア) is a popular yoshoku dish (i.e. Japanese-style Western food) that can be found throughout all of Japan.

It is a Japanese version of gratin, made with rice as the main ingredient (instead of typical potatoes). Doria was invented by a foreign chef living in Japan at the time.

The dish is thought to be named after a famous Italian navy admiral named Andrea Doria.

Read on for more interesting info about Doria:

Ingredients

The main ingredients of Doria are:

• Rice
• Cheese

Various vegetables, seafood, and meat can be used to make doria.

The original version used shrimp as its main star. Doria sauce is usually a typical white sauce (i.e. bechamel sauce).

Location

Doria is a standard menu item at Japanese-style Western restaurants (i.e. yoshoku) across all of Japan. Many large chain and family restaurants like Saizeriya will have doria on the menu, so you are sure to find it anywhere you go in the country.

The first doria was created at a hotel in Yokohama city called Hotel New Grand Yokohama. Read more about its interesting history below:

History / Origin

Doria was created in 1930 by Chef Saly Weil, the first head chef of the Hotel New Grand Yokahama.

Weil was Swiss, and specialized/trained in French cuisine. He would often improvise dishes at the request of customers at the hotel.

One day, a customer was not feeling well, and requested a wholesome meal from the chef.

This is when Weil came up with doria, which was a variation of the classic French gratin. Instead of potatoes, he used rice. Shrimp was added, everything covered in a bechamel sauce, and baked together in the oven.

The dish was so well received, that it eventually became a standard menu item at the hotel.

The name “doria” was also chosen by Saly Wilde. It is thought to be a reference to famous Italian admiral named Andrea Doria.

Chef Weil played a very important role in popularizing Western cuisine in Japan, and he also introduced many other dishes like Spaghetti Napolitan.

Many chefs who studied under Weil eventually spread out to other restaurants throughout Japan, and continued serving his dishes like doria.

Check out this interesting article about Saly Weil (in Swiss German)

How to make Doria

Doria is not TOO difficult to make, although it’s a lot more steps than most easy Japanese recipes.

The original doria uses shrimp as the main ingredient, but you can use whatever filling you feel like. Below is a great recipe adapted kurashiru for a simple chicken and mushroom doria:

Chicken and Mushroom Doria Recipe (ドリア)

Course: MainCuisine: japaneseDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

Basic doria recipe (i.e. Japanese rice gratin). Original recipe and images from kurashiru

Equipment & Ingredients

• Equipment

• Oven

• Oven safe baking dish

• Frying pan

• Knife & Cutting board

• Chopsticks

• Main Ingredients

• Cooked Rice … 200g

• Chicken breast … 80 g

• Shimeji mushrooms … 60g

• White mushroom … 2

• Onion … 1/4

• Cheese for pizza … 50g

• Salted butter … 20g

• White sauce

• Cake flour … 1 tablespoon

• Milk … 200ml

• (A) Salt … a little

• (A) Black peppeer …a little

• (A) Consommé granules … 1 teaspoon

• Garnish

• Dried parsley … appropriate amount

Directions

• Prep
• Preheat the oven to 200℃.
• Cut up / break apart mushrooms into small bite size pieces. Thinly slice the onion. Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces.
• Start cooking
• Put salted butter in a frying pan and heat over medium heat.
• Once melted, add sliced onions and stir-fry until softened.
• Add chicken and stir-fry until heated through, then add mushrooms and stir-fry until slightly golden brown.
• Add the flour and stir fry until there are no more lumps,
• Then add the milk in two parts and mix thoroughly.
• Add (A) seasoning ingredients and adjust to taste
• Once the mixture thickens, remove from the heat.
• Add the rice to the sauce, mix together well, and place mixture in your baking dish.
• Top the mixture with cheese and bake at 200℃ for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
• Remove from the oven, garnish with parsley and enjoy!

Recipe Video

Notes

• You may need to adjust cooking time and temperature depending on your oven
• Cover with foil if the top is getting too burnt

Summary

Have you ever tried doria before? What did you think of it?

Leave your thoughts and comments below!