Learn how to make Saizeriya's most loved dish, Milano Meat Doria! Turmeric rice topped with creamy béchamel sauce, flavourful meat sauce and tangy pecorino cheese.
Saizeriya?
Quick question for people who either have been to Japan or lived in Japan, "Have you ever been to Saizeriya?"
Saizeriya is a famous Italian-Japanese family restaurant found all over Japan.
It's known for cheap yet delicious Italian-ish dishes and wines.
I grew up going to the diner very often and still go there sometimes, and it's safe to say the "Milano Doria" is the most iconic and loved dish in there.
What is "Doria"?
Yeah, what the heck is doria? You may ask.
Doria is a popular oven baked dish made of short grain rice topped with white sauce, cheese and meat sauce. For almost entire my life, I believed doria is an Italian dish but apparently it's not!
Thanks Saizeriya for tricking me like that! Instead, it's actually Japanese style western food that was created by a Swiss chef called Saly Weil who worked at Yokohama Hotel New Grand back in 1930.
The original version was just risotto topped with bechamel sauce and baked in the oven.
What Ingredients are used in "Doria"?
This has evolved since then and the Saizeriya version has
- Turmeric rice
- Meat sauce
- Bechamel sauce
- Cheese
They named the dish Milano-style doria which doesn't really make sense now because it's not really from Milan.
Check out my other recipes
What kind of cheese is used for Doria?
It came to my attention that the term "cheese" in Japan is quite vague. If you go to supermarkets in Japan, lots of packed shredded cheese are labelled simply as "Mixed cheese (ミックスチーズ)" which is usually a mixture of Gouda, Cheddar, Mozzarella and/or Steppen cheese.
In this recipe, I originally used gouda and cheddar mixed shredded cheese and a hard cheese powder, but in fact, Saizeriya only uses pecorino cheese, not melty cheese.
Grated hard cheese like pecorino or parmigiano are important to add a rich, cheesy flavour to doria but you can add melty cheese too. I love cheese so I sprinkled extra melt-able cheese over the top. It becomes golden and delicious in the oven too.
Hard Cheese
Pre-grated hard cheese products in Japan are also often a mixture of different cheeses and labelled simply as "Powdered cheese (粉チーズ)".
For flavour (and a more authentic Saizeriya taste) use a hard grated cheese:
- Pecorino
- Parmigiano (parmesan)
Melty Cheese
For a stringy melty texture, use a mild shredded version of one of these cheeses:
- Gouda
- Light Cheddar
- Gruyere
- Emmental
- Mozarella
- Raclette
Basically, if it's a cheese that you would use in lasagna, then you can definitely use it in doria too. The truth is, many different cheeses work in this recipe so have fun making doria with your favourite cheese!
Anyway, for anyone who's missing Saizeriya dishes, the recipe is definitely for you!
Let's enjoy homemade Saizeriya style doria at home!
Check out our video for Saizeriya-style Meat Doria
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Saizeriya Style Doria Recreation Recipe (ミラノ風ドリア）
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 2 portions 1x
Description
A recreation recipe of Saizeriya's most loved dish, Milano Meat Doria. Turmeric rice topped with creamy béchamel sauce, meat sauce with a kick and tangy pecorino cheese.
Ingredients
Rice
- 150g (5.3oz) Uncooked short grain rice
- 200ml (0.85 cups) Water
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- A pinch of salt
Meat sauce (see note)
- 100g (3.5) Minced meat (see note)
- ½ onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- ½ tinned tomato (200g/7oz)
- 1 teaspoon flour
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- A pinch of curry powder
White sauce (see note)
- 2 tablespoon Unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon All purpose flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 pinch of black pepper
- 150ml (⅔ cups) milk
- 125ml (½ cup) single cream
Topping
- 2 tablespoon hard cheese (Pecorino or Parmesan)
- A sprinkle of your preferred melting cheese (I used a mixture of light cheddar and gouda)
Instructions
Cooking the Rice
- Cook the rice as you would usually do with 1 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 tablespoon butter. (Make sure to mix before turning on the heat.)
(Using a rice cooker is the easiest way. Japanese rice for "doria" on the stove: Wash 150g short grain rice 3 times and soak in 200ml of cold water in your cooking pot for 30 mins. Add 1 teaspoon tumeric powder and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and mix. With the lid on, heat the pot of rice on medium until the water comes to the boil. When you can hear the water boiling, without removing the lid, reduce the heat to medium low for 5 mins. Continue cooking on the lowest heat for 5 mins. After the 5 mins are up, turn off the heat and leave for 10 mins. By leaving the lid on, the rice continues to cook in the steam.)
- You can prepare the other parts of the dish while the rice is cooking.
Meat sauce
- Dice the ½ a white onion.
- Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil into the pan and heat on medium-high.
- Once it's heated, add the onion and crush 1 garlic clove into the pan. Fry for 2 mins.
- Add 100g mince meat and cook until browned.
- Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper and add the 1 teaspoon flour.
- Pour in ½ a can of tomatoes (200g) and bring it to the boil.
- Once it starts boiling bring down the heat to low.
- Add 1 teaspoon soy sauce, ½ tablespoon sugar and ¼ teaspoon of curry powder, mix and then simmer on a low heat with the lid on for 10 mins.
White Sauce
- Melt 2 tablespoon unsalted butter in a saucepan on a low heat.
- Add 2 tablespoon flour and a pinch of salt and pepper, mix well to make a roux.
- Gradually add 125m single cream and 150ml milk while whisking.
- Turn up the heat to medium-low and cook until thick and creamy.
Assembling The Doria
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (or 430°F).
- Put the turmeric rice into an ovenproof dish. (You can use 1 medium oven dish or 2 smaller ones)
- Layer the rice with the white sauce.
- Add the meat sauce to the centre.
- Sprinkle the hard cheese (Pecorino or Parmesan) and your preferred melting cheese (such as cheddar or gouda) over the top.
- Bake for 10 mins on the middle shelf. Move to the top shelf for the last 5 minutes to add golden colour to the cheese.
- Serve up and enjoy!
Notes
We use beef/pork minced meat in our recipe but you can also use chicken or even a meat substitute if you want to make it vegetarian friendly.
It's a short cut but you can use pre-made bolognese and white sauce if you don't want to make sauces from scratch.
If you want to make it in advance, cook the rice, béchamel sauce and meat sauce and assemble the doria, then store it in the refrigerator and cook the next day. (I don't recommend keeping it longer than that.)
Freeze unbaked doria for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen at 190°C (375°F) covered with foil for 50 mins then remove the tin foil and bake for another 5-10 mins uncovered.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 1-2 days and reheat in the microwave.
- Category: Yoshoku
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Japanese / Italian
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How big is the can of tomatoes...?
Sorry a can is 400g so 1/2 is 200g, I will add the measurement to the recipe! Thank you for the comment!
I know you meant mozzarella, but maybe consider specifying it? I am aware that in Japan mozzarella is the only widely available cheese, but I think many if not most people reading your recipes come from and live in western countries.
Also, this recipe is super delicious and surprisingly easy to make, thank you!
https://coloradaninkyoto.wordpress.com/2021/01/28/dear-japanese-people/
★★★★★
Thank you for your comment and rating, it's greatly appreciated.
Also thank you for bringing the cheese to my attention, I've updated the post to be a bit more informative about types of cheese you can use. 🙂
Hi,
The water to rice ratio just increase accordingly?
300g rice is 400g water and 450g rice is 600g water?
Hi Jo,
Yes that's exactly right 🙂