Seafood Doria

This Japanese staple dish is an “au gratin” casserole made with seafood and rice topped with creamy Béchamel sauce and cheese. It’s all melted together in the oven to create a cheesy dish that’s delicious and fun to eat.

Entrees Japanese Rice

Seafood Doria is a popular type of Doria (ドリア). Doria is a rice gratin dish that originated in France, but is now a popular Japanese staple food. Doria is a layered casserole made with rice and meat topped with sauce (usually French Béchamel sauce but sometimes also tomato sauce) and topped with cheese.

Béchamel Sauce is a French whitle sauce which is simple to make – butter and flour are cooked into a roux and then milk is slowly mixed in to get it to the right color and consistency. Sometimes spices are added such as salt or nutmeg to give it a unique flavor.

Seafood Doria can be prepared to be relatively bland, but it is also delicious when when spices are added to the Béchamel Sauce. I like to use paprika in my Seafood Doria to give the dish a little color along with a kick. I also use salt, black pepper, and onion powder to give the dish a savory, umami flavor. I like to prepare a very thick sauce that is spread over the rice with a spatula. This ensures the top of the rice is more heavily spiced, but the flavor of the fried rice stands out as well. If you prefer a more blended taste then you can make the sauce creamier so it pours over the rice and soaks through – simply add another 1/2 cup of milk when making the sauce. Keep in mind that the sauce will thicken a bit when adding the spices, so make sure that you have some extra milk on hand if you prefer a creamier sauce.

I like to load my fried rice up with lots of seafood. Scallops, squid, shrimp, octopus, mussels all go great in Doria. The cheese topping is also key. Gouda, mozzarella and cheddar all lend a unique flavor and you can use only one cheese or any mix of the three. You can also experiment with other cheeses – try American, Swiss, Gruyère or any cheese that you like. You can also use Parmesan cheese to give the dish some extra flavor.

Seafood Doria can be frozen in the baking pan or in smaller, individual foil containers, before cooking and then heated up later. Be sure to add some extra time in the oven if the Doria is frozen.

Seafood Doria

Seafood Doria is a cheesy casserole made with seafood, rice, Béchamel sauce, and topped with melted cheese. It starts with seafood fried rice that uses plenty of seafood. In addition to shrimp and scallops, use squid, mussels, clams, octopus, or your favorite shellfish or mollusks. Prepare the rice with a little white wine and some white mushrooms slice super thin to enhance the taste.

Doria is made in layers – rice on the bottom, Béchamel Sauce next, and then top it with cheese. Bake until hot and the cheese is totally melted. It’s an easy dish to prepare and a real crowd pleaser.

PREP	COOKING	YIELD
15 mins	30 mins	Serves 6

PREP	15 mins
COOKING	30 mins
YIELD	Serves 6

Ingredients:

Seafood Rice

2 cups white rice
1/2 lb assorted seafood (scallops and peeled shrimp)
4 white mushrooms, sliced thin
2 TBSP cooking oil
2 TBSP Japanese Sake or White cooking wine
1/2 chicken bouillon cube crushed and mixed into the wine

Béchamel Sauce

2 TBSP unsalted butter
2 TBSP flour
1 cup of milk
1/2 chicken bouillon cube, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder

Topping

1 cup shredded cheese (Gouda, Cheddar, Parmesan, or an assortment)

Doria ingredients on a board

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degs F/150 degs C.
Sauté the mushrooms in a skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes until the mushrooms soften.
Stir in the seafood and the wine and continue to sauté for another 3 or 4 minutes until the seafood is no longer translucent (the shrimp will become pink).

Stir frying shrimp. Scallop. mushroom

Stir in the white rice. Fry for about 3-4 minutes until the rice has absorbed the liquids and has softened up.

Stir rice into seafood

Layer the rice into a 13 x 9 baking dish.

Rice in a pot

Prepare the Béchamel Sauce. Melt the butter and flour together over medium meat to create a roux. Stir for 2-3 minutes until thick and bubbly. Gradually pour in the milk and stir until smooth. Stir in the spices. Remove from the heat.

Mixing roux for Béchamel sauce

Gently spread the Béchamel Sauce over the rice.

Spreading Béchamel sauce

Top off with the shredded cheese.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

Baking Doria in the oven

Finish up under a hot broiler to brown the cheese if desired.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

A pan of baked Doria

Serve.

Seafood Doria on a plate with a watercress salad on a smaller plate

Notes:

Seafood Doria can use any variety of seafood or any mix of cheese – it’s a highly versatile dish that you can customize to your taste.
If you are not looking for a huge casserole, try preparing in smaller individual size casserole dishes.
You can freeze Doria before cooking with an airtight cover. It will stay good for several months in the freezer and can be cooked later. You can cook from frozen- allow an extra 10-15 minutes in the oven to allow for thawing.

Jay H

Jay is a Project Manager for a U.S. Company that does business globally. He has worked and lived in many places and has spent time learning how to cook dishes from around the world. Currently based in Japan, he created the Mountain Plums website during the Covid pandemic as a way to express himself though cooking while staying active.

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Jay H