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What is oyakodon?
When it comes to fast food, Japan goes beyond pizzas and hamburgers, bringing us gastronomic delights that usually include noodles or rice. Dishes whose main ingredient is rice and are served in a bowl are known in Japan as donburi (丼). There are a wide range of donburis: gyudon, butadon, chashudon,… and, of course, the dish I am sharing with you today, oyakodon. Its name, Oyakodon (親子丼) can be literally translated as “father and son rice bowl”. This is because its main ingredients are chicken (referring to the father) and egg (referring to the son).
3 reasons that will make you love oyakodon
Oyakodon is one of the most popular donburis sold in office areas, where workers are looking for a quick, nutritious and tasty option for lunch.
But not only it is enjoyed in restaurants. It is so quick and easy to make that it’s become a staple in many houses around Japan.
So here are 3 reasons why you should give it a try :
- It the perfect recipe for week nights as everything is cooked on one pan and a rice cooker. And lets be honest, who likes to clean up the kitchen after dinner?
- It’s ready in 30 minutes.
- Ingredients are easy to find.
The golden ratio
Years ago I discovered this dish and, although the recipes I tried were good, I could not recreate the taste of the oyakodon that we had in Japan.
That all changed when I came across a documentary about the a tokyo based restaurant, known as Tamahide, that specializes in oyakodon. In it, the chef mentioned that they used sukiyaki sauce to prepare it and, although this is a family secret, with this knowledge I started to experiment.
Ningyocho Imahan is a restaurant famous for its sukiyaki and in an article on macaro-ni (Japanese website) they share the golden ratio for preparing sukiyaki at home.
Sukiyaki’s golden ratio
4 soy sauce : 3 mirin : 2 sugar : 1 water
With this information, and after watching many YouTube videos (I’m a fan of street-food videos from Japan ^.^), spending hours looking for recipes in Japanese (thanks google translate) and trying dozens of them, I finally came with the recipe I’m sharing with you. A recipe that evokes the oyakodon that I tried in Japan and that has become one of our favourite dishes.
Liked this recipe?
Learn how to make some panko fried prawns or discover one of Japan’s favourite street foods, takoyaki.
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See you on the next one!
Eva
How to make Oyakodon
Equipment
Ingredients
- japanese rice 1 cup
- onion 1
- chicken legs 2
- eggs 2
- soy sauce 40 ml
- mirin 30 ml
- dashi - or water 15 ml
- ginger - optional, grated 1 tsp.
- garlic - optional, grated 1/2 clove
Instructions
- Cut the onion into same size slices and add them to a pan.
- Add the grated ginger and garlic.
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add it to the pan.
- Add the water or dashi, mirin and soy sauce.
- Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is done.
- In the meantime, pour two eggs into a bowl. Whisk.
- Add the eggs, spreading them uniformly around the pan.
- As soon as they are 80% cooked, remove it and add it to the bowl with the cooked rice.
- Garnish with spring onions and/or schichimi togarashi.
Video
Notes
Change soy sauce for gluten free tamari and make sure to buy gluten free mirin and sake.
Nutrition
