While blanching gingko nuts is faster and more common, you can roast gingko nuts in their cracked shells in a frying pan (without oil), and remove shells and skin while hot. Roasted gingko nuts are somewhat chewy and add a toasty note to the rice.
This tastes best when prepared with fresh gingko nuts. Ready-to-use prepacked gingko nuts may be convenient but their defects will come through in this dish with simple flavoring.
If you are cooking in a pot instead of a rice cooker, the total amount of liquid (sake and water) needs to be slightly less than the amount when cooking plain rice (use 10% more water than rice). Since you will add 1 tbsp (15cc) sake, 175cc water is probably is enough. The more sweet rice you use, the less water you need.
Do not eat too many gingko nuts at one time. Kids in particular should not eat more gingko nuts than their age in years. See “Ginnan gingko nuts” for details.
