I work full-time in Japan, and easy rice cooker dishes like this Japanese braised chicken are such lifesavers. When I come home after a long day, I love recipes that require minimal preparation but still feel like a comforting homemade meal.

This Japanese braised chicken with daikon radish is one of those dishes. The chicken becomes incredibly tender, and the daikon absorbs all the savory soy sauce and dashi flavors while simmering together. The best part is that you can simply add everything to the rice cooker and let it handle the cooking for you.

I also love making this when I have other things to do. If you have extra time, leaving it on the keep-warm setting for a few hours after cooking allows the flavors to soak into the chicken and daikon even more.

Why Rice Cooker Recipes Make Weeknight Cooking Easier

In Japan, rice cookers are not only used for cooking rice. Many people use them for simple dishes like this because they can slowly cook ingredients while you focus on work, chores, or relaxing.

This simple braised chicken recipe is perfect for busy days because there is no need to stand by the stove. Just prepare the ingredients, press the button, and you’ll have a comforting Japanese home-style meal ready.

Ingredients (2 servings)

Chicken drumettes : 12 oz (350 g)
Daikon radish: 10 oz (300 g)
Fresh ginger: 0.7 oz (20 g), sliced into 3–4 thin slices
Water: ½ cup (120 ml)
Soy sauce: 4 tbsp
Rice vinegar: 2 tbsp
Mirin: 2 tbsp
Sake: 2 tbsp
Sugar: 2 tbsp
Dashi powder: 2 tsp

Instructions

Peel the daikon radish and cut it into bite-sized chunks. Slice the ginger into 3–4 thin slices.
Mix the water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, sake, sugar, and dashi powder together to make the braising sauce.
Add the chicken drumettes, daikon, and ginger to the rice cooker. Pour the braising sauce over everything.
Cook using the regular rice cooking setting.
Once cooking is complete, serve immediately, or leave it on the keep-warm setting for a few hours to allow the flavors to soak in even more.