oyakodon (親子丼) | a marriage of the chicken and the egg

May 14, 2013 - Mains - Tagged: , , , - 16 comments

“Oyakodon (親子丼), literally “parent-and-child donburi”, is a donburi, or Japanese rice bowl dish, in which chicken, egg, sliced scallion (or sometimes regular onions), and other ingredients are all simmered together in a sauce and then served on top of a large bowl of rice. The name of the dish is a poetic reflection of the fact that both chicken and egg are used in the dish.”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyakodon)

I love Japanese food. But I rarely cook it. I guess I have always thought making Japanese food is a complicated process, and coupled with the fact that I cannot read Japanese, the idea of making anything Japanese (teriyaki being the exception) is pretty daunting.

Other than the sashimi and the sushi, one of the other things I really love about Japanese food are the rice bowls, also known as donburi. Apart from the fact that they are delicious, the idea of making a one-bowl, one-pot, one-plate anything for dinner always intrigues me.

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I was at Sakuraya Foods the other day and was looking at the weird and wonderful things on sale when this very friendly Japanese lady started chatting with me. I mentioned my fear of cooking anything Japanese and she explained how easy it was to make donburi. She gave me her recipe for her Oyakodon, and was even nice enough to point out the different sauces that I would need.

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I figured that I did not have much to lose. So I bought a bottle each of Bonito Flavoured Soup Base and  Honteri Mirin. The Japanese are great. Instead of having to make dashi, one can substitute with already-prepared bottles of goodness!

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Since I had all the other ingredients at home, I only had to buy a bag of Japanese rice, and I was ready to begin. (Instructions on how to cook Japanese rice can be found here.)

I have to confess – I actually made two dinners tonight, in the event that my donburi turned out to be inedible, I would have something else to fall back on.

I started with cooking the rice. I have to say – I have cooked jasmine rice, brown rice, wild rice, risotto rice, basmati rice, but cooking Japanese rice beats them all. I had to rinse the rice until the water was clear, drain the rice for 30 minutes, then add water to the rice and let it soak for 45 minutes before cooking. Sheesh. The end result was worth it, but I cannot say it would be something I would cook everyday. I guess you can substitute the Japanese rice with jasmine rice if you simply cannot be bothered to cook Japanese rice. I will totally understand.

Here’s how to cook the chicken and sauce.

Boil the water. Add the soup base, mirin, sugar and light soy sauce. Add onions and cook for 3-5 minutes (a little more if you prefer the onions to be softer).

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Add chicken and simmer until the chicken is cooked.

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Pour the beaten eggs into and around the liquid. Do not stir.

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Cover with a lid and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.

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The dish is done.

Seriously. 

Ladle chicken, egg, onion and sauce over the rice. Top with chopped spring onion and serve immediately.

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In restaurants you pay $15.90 (and that is considered cheap) for this. 

Daylight robbery, huh?

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Now that I’ve had success with Oyakodon, I am definitely going to try making other donburi!!!

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oyakodon (親子丼) | a marriage of the chicken and the egg
Serves 4
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For the rice
  1. 2 cups Japanese short grain rice
  2. 2 cups water
For the sauce
  1. 1 1/2 cups (360ml) water
  2. 3 chicken thighs, de-boned and cut into small pieces
  3. 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  4. 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
  5. 4 tablespoons Bonito Flavoured Soup Base
  6. 4 tablespoons Honteri Mirin
  7. 3 tablespoons light soy (adjust to preference)
  8. 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
  9. 2 stalks spring onion, chopped
Instructions
  1. Cook rice.
  2. Boil the water. Add the soup base, mirin, sugar and light soy sauce. Add onions and cook for 3-5 minutes (a little more if you prefer the onions to be softer).
  3. Add chicken and simmer until the chicken is cooked.
  4. Pour the beaten eggs into and around the liquid. Do not stir.
  5. Cover with a lid and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
  6. Ladle chicken, egg, onion and sauce over the rice.
  7. Top with chopped spring onion and serve immediately.
Notes
  1. If you do not have Japanese rice, simply use Jasmine rice.
The Domestic Goddess Wannabe https://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/
*Want to make this dish but don’t have most of the ingredients? Have no fear! This recipe is available at thehungrychef. Simply click and order and all the ingredients and condiments needed to make this dish will be delivered to you!




 

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