🍚🐔🥚 Oyakodon 🥚🐔🍚
Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl
Oyakodon is a popular and traditional Japanese rice bowl dish that combines a savory-sweet mixture of chicken, egg, and onions served over steamed rice. The name “oyakodon” translates to “parent and child bowl,” which is a poetic reference to the use of both chicken (the parent) and egg (the child) in the dish.
It is a favorite for home cooks due to its ease of preparation and is often found in Japanese eateries and fast-food chains and featured in Japanese cooking shows and food blogs. Just Google “oyakodon” to see hundreds of authentic recipes for this well liked Japanese comfort food.
I am sharing here today for those who aren’t familiar with this splendid, homey Japanese dish. Serve it for brunch, lunch, dinner or a late night snack. It can easily be prepared with almost all ingredients on hand in the Western kitchen. I give substitutes below in case Japanese ingredients are not available.
Oyakodon Recipe
Ingredients for 1 Serving
- steamed short grain white rice for serving (about one cup)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten with white and yellow parts still visible, set out to room temperature
- 1/4 sweet onion, sliced thin lengthwise
- 5 oz. chicken thighs (boneless/skinless) in bite-sized pieces
Sauce
- 1/2 c. homemade dashi (sub: instant dashi) There is no substitute for dashi in this recipe as it is the backbone of the dish. But you can get it tomorrow from Amazon!
- 1 T. soy sauce
- 1 T. dry sake (sub: dry sherry or dry vermouth)
- 2 t. sugar
Mix sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
Method
Heat sauce over medium heat in an 8″ non-stick skillet. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and cook another 5 minutes, flip chicken as necessary, until chicken is no longer pink.
“Juicy Omelette”
Pour lightly beaten eggs over the chicken and onions. Cover the pan, lower the heat, and cook gently until the eggs are just set, maintaining a soft, custardy texture.
To Finish
Spread hot steamed rice in a bowl about the size of the skillet. Slide the cooked “juicy chicken-egg omelette”onto the rice, including all the juices in the pan. The rice serves as the base, absorbing the flavors of the sauce and toppings.
Garnish with the following:
- shichimi togarshi (sub: ground cayenne pepper, sesame seeds, and granulated orange peel if available)
- scallions, sliced
- mitsuba (sub: cilantro or parsley)
- a light drizzle of good soy sauce (optional)
Shichimi Togarashi is a spicy-citrusy seven-flavor Japanese spice blend. There are many different blends of seven spice, this one included nori, sea salt, chile powder, toasted sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, granulated orange peel, ground cayenne pepper – it enlivened the whole dish. Mitsuba, a Japanese herb with a fresh, wild, sweet flavor adds the herbaceous notes.
Oyakodon exemplifies the balance and simplicity of Japanese cuisine, combining minimal ingredients to create a classic dish that is flavorful and comforting, savory and sweet, and incredibly easy to make.
Itadakimasu! 🦆