Ochazuke

This is an easy and very basic Japanese dish in which hot green tea is poured over cooked rice topped with a few simple ingredients. It is also called more simply "chazuke".
It may sound damn weird to pour tea over rice, but it is actually surprisingly good and satisfying with the green tea. Oolong tea may be used as well, but is less common.

The origin of the dish was lost in history, but, the dish first became popular in the Heian era, where it was recorded that water was most commonly poured over rice, however beginning in the Edo era, tea was used instead. Its hard to characterize a particular time the dish is served - it is served for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night. It would be accurate however to say, that if it is served as part of a larger meal it would be offered at the end of the meal. The logic, one might suppose is the tea washes up all the grains of rice, leaving less mess - and green tea of course is helpful with digestion. It is also commonly served at izakayas or pubs.
It is common for those who have imbibed a lot of alcohol to eat chazuke, either during drinking, or afterwards.

The specific tea used, does make a difference in flavor. Of course, Japanese green tea and its preparation is a deep subject in and of itself, and it is a favorite topic of mine as I love green tea.
I will post a little piece later on making Japanese green tea from loose leaf, as there are some definate guidelines for each variety to get the most optimal flavor.

Here is a very short primer to Japanese green tea varieties.

1. Sencha - This is the most common variety of Japanese green tea and is noted for its delicate sweetness, mild astringency and flowery-green aroma.
2. Kabuse Cha - This is a type of sencha that is shaded for about 2 weeks prior to harvest. Most sencha is grown in unshaded gardens exposed to direct sunlight. The kabuse sencha tend to have a mellower flavor and subtler color than sencha grown in direct sunlight.
3. Gyokuro - This is is regarded as the highest grade of tea made in Japan. It is made only with the first flush leaf and its special processing results in a tea with a sweet, mild flavor and fresh, flowery-green aroma.
4. Bancha - This means common tea and refers to a lower grade of sencha that is harvested during the second and third crops in the summer and autumn. Bancha usually contains larger leaves and upper stems, which are discarded during the production of sencha. Compared to sencha, bancha is less aromatic and more astringent. Nevertheless, bancha is much appreciated in Japan for its more robust flavor. Because of its strong character, it goes well with food.
5. Kukicha - This is known as twig or stalk tea. It is a blend of leaves with the stems and stalks normally discarded in the production of sencha and gyokuro. The flavor is light and refreshing with a mild sweetness and the aroma is fresh and green.
6. Hojicha - This is produced by roasting bancha or kukicha over high heat. This is a savory tea with a refreshing and roasty taste and virtually no bitterness.
7. Genmaicha - This is a blend of bancha with well-toasted brown rice called "genmai". The rice adds a slightly nutty taste. The mild flavor of Genmaicha and its low caffeine content make it an ideal after-dinner tea.

Sometimes the dish is served very simply with hot green tea being poured over cooked rice, but more commonly various toppings and condiments are added to it.
The variety of toppings can include umeboshi, which is a pickled plum, nori, grilled salmon, soy-simmered fish and seaweed, tempura, tuna - raw, broiled or even canned, and flaked, broiled eel, grilled chicken, grilled salmon, pickled cucumber, smoked salmon, and oysters marinated in oil.
Various seasonings and condiments can be added for flavor, such as sesame seeds, wasabi, shoyu or freshly grated ginger. Ochazuke is normally served in a bowl large enough to hold the rice and a generous amount of tea. The dish features green tea, but occasionally dashi broth is mixed in as well for a more savory dish.

1 cup cooked short grained rice - here you need Japanese-style short grained rice. Medium or long grain rice does not taste the same. You can get bags of "Sushi Rice" at most stores now, so that would be the best route.

Next the green tea -
2 tsp. Japanese green tea leaves, you can use bancha, genmaicha, sencha, hojicha.
Or, alternatively you can use more commonly found green tea bags to make the tea.
Put tea leaves in the pot. Bring the water to the appropriate temperature for your tea and pour into the pot. Set aside to steep for 1-2 minutes, follow the directions with the specific tea for best results.

From there its simple. Put a cup or so of cooked rice in a bowl and fill it up with a generous amount of tea.
The rough proportion would be about if one was pouring milk into a bowl of cereal.
From there, its down to what sort of toppings and condiments you like or happen to have on hand.

1 salted salmon fillet or 1/2 fillet of salmon and pinch of salt. These are most common with chazuke and are grilled or pan-fried prior to being eaten.
1 tsp. Japanese rice crackers, crushed up
1 tsp. shredded nori
1/4 tsp. roasted white sesame seeds
2 sprigs of mitsuba (trefoil)
1/2 green onion, cut into small pieces
Wasabi for taste
1/2 tsp. soy sauce
  
Serve with tsukemono, such as pickled cucumber, as a part of meal.