Japanese Grilled Soy Corn Millet Rice

A little bit burned soy sauce and butter is an amazing combination of flavor that Japanese people love to use in many different dishes especially for dishes have potatoes and corns. There is even a potato chips flavor with soy sauce and butter in Japan. So this grilled soy corn millet rice got to be pretty good since it has best of all; soy grilled corn, scallion sauce and butter! I think adding millet to the rice gives an nice crunch texture. It can be served at hot or room temperature so I sometimes use it for kids lunch box. Try it before the season is over. You will be happy!

Ingredients:
FOR RICE:

• 4 ears corn
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 2 teaspoon canola oil
• 2 cups short or medium grain rice
• 1/4 cup millet
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 1/2 cup water

FOR SOY SCALLION SAUCE:

• Canola oil
• 1 cup chopped scallions
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

FOR CONDIMENT:

• Chopped scallions
• Butter
• Japanese ichimi pepper
• Freshly grated black pepper

Instructions:

1. Just before cooking, husk the corn and pull off the silky threads. Cook the corn in a boiling water for 5 minutes, and remove. Mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon mirin and 2 teaspoon canola oil in a small bowl, and brush the kernels with half of the soy mixture. Grill the corn on the grill or under broiler in the oven, rotating to cook evenly. When the corns has nicely charred all the sides, remove from the oven, and brush with the rest of the soy mixture. Let it cool.
2. Wash rice and millet together, and strain in a colander for 5 minutes. In a heavy bottomed medium pot (2-3 quarts), put the washed rice, millet and water, and soak for at least 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile cut the corn kernels off the cob and prepare soy scallion sauce. In a small skillet, add small amount of canola oil, and cook scallions over medium high heat until almost caramelized. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and turn off the heat.
4. Add 1/3 of corn kernels, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon soy sauce to the pot, and lightly mix. Heat the pot over medium high heat until it boils. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Make sure not to open the cover during the process. Turn off the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a spatula, and mix in the rest of kernels to the rice.
5. Serve the rice immediately with soy scallion sauce and additional condiments such as fresh scallions, butter, ichimi and black pepper if you would like.