Here is a classic Japanese dish that you'll find in homes and restaurants throughout the country. It's called Oyakodon, which means, Mother & Child Rice bowl. The name comes from the topping which combines chicken and egg. The chicken and egg are cooked together with some onion and/or spring onion and then placed on the top of the rice. The history of the dish apparently goes back about a hundred years to a shop that specialised in chicken dishes in Nihonbashi, in the heart of old Tokyo, so this may be the original "donburi" recipe.
The Japanese don't have the same reservations about raw egg as people in the UK do, so the egg in this dish is normally left a little runny rather than being cooked into a solid omelette. Personally, I like to have my egg a little runny but with more chicken and a little less egg involved but you'll find Oyakodon served in Japan with lots more egg and less chicken as well - it's all a matter of your personal taste. Give it a try and once you've mastered the standard Oyakodon recipe, you can start experimenting with the combination that you like the most!
I garnished my Oyakodon with some spring onion to give a little more fibre and texture to the dish - the other well known garnish for this dish is the green leaf mitsuba, which also works very well.
if you want to give this dish a whirl, you can find the written recipe for this dish just below and the Youtube tutorial click Oyakodon or scroll to the bottom of the page.
Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX.
If you would like to browse another donburi why not take a look at my pork Pork Sauce katsudon.
Oyakodon
ingredients:
(makes 2 servings)
2 chicken breasts (400g)
1 onion (160g)
100ml japanese dashi stock
2 tbsp japanese cooking sake
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
3 eggs
1 spring onion
450g cooked rice
how to:
halve and cut the onion into 1cm slices
slice the spring onion diagonally
cut the chicken in half lengthways, then cut into 1 cm bite sized pieces
add the dashi stock, cooking sake, sugar & soy sauce to a 20cm frying pan and stir well
when the sauce comes to the simmer, add the onion & chicken and simmer for 6-7 mins or until cooked
roughly beat the eggs and pour over the chicken, thensprinkle over the spring onion
turn off the heat when the egg are nearly cooked (although it depends how runny you want the egg to be)
to assemble oyakodon, place 1/2 the rice into each bowl, then spoon 1/2 the chicken & egg mixture onto the rice
your oyakodon is ready to serve - garnish with some raw spring onion and enjoy!