Oyako-don
Oyako-don is a classic Japanese comfort food. Oyako-don literally translates to "parent and child donburi", which is a pretty clever way to name a chicken and egg rice bowl. My first impression of oyako-don was slightly negative - the chicken was really dry. It then slipped my radar until college, when I made it and was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out. The chicken and egg are juicy, flavorful, and tender. What I love about this dish is how it really lets the natural flavor of the chicken shine. Best of all the dish is surprisingly easy to make. I'd definitely recommend giving it a try!
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 25 min
Ingredients
> chicken thigh (1 large, about 1/2 pound)
> onion (1/4), green onion
> eggs (2)
> 2x concentrated dashi (1/4 cup)
> mirin (1 tbsp), sake (1 tbsp), soy sauce (1 tbsp), sugar (1 tbsp)
> Japanese red pepper powder
Instructions
1. Mix together the dashi, mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar until completely dissolved. Add it to a small pan and heat it up over medium heat.
2. Slice onion into thin slivers. Once the sauce mixture is simmering, add the onions to the pan and let simmer for about 3 minutes.
3. Slice chicken thighs into thick slices or small chunks. Add them to the pan, gently mix, and cover. Let simmer for several minutes, or until almost fully cooked.
4. Beat two eggs, and drizzle it uniformly around the pan. Cover the pan and let cook for 2-3 minutes, depending on how done you prefer your eggs.
5. Prepare a bowl of rice. Gently set the entire mixture over the bowl of rice. Top with some green onions and Japanese red pepper powder. Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> This combination of dashi, mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar is a versatile mixture that forms the base of a variety of different Japanese dishes, and gives the their distinctive flavor.
> I prefer to use thigh due to its texture and relatively high fat content, but realistically you could use whatever cuts you prefer. Just make sure that they're of uniform size so that they cook in the same time.
> This recipe is perfect for one person and is optimized for an 8-inch saute pan. Try to use a pan size that will allow you to directly "slide" the contents of the pan onto a bed of rice. Adjust accordingly to your pan / bowl size.
> Be careful with how much liquid you add to the dish. Since the entire dish will be served over a bowl of rice, achieving a balance between too watery (and swamping the rice) and too dry (and not cooking the chicken/egg well) is paramount. I found that the ingredient amounts above for my specific pan work well, but please adjust the amount on the fly depending on your pan and what you see.