Umami Cooking

Always meaty with a dash of veggies

Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl (oyakodon)

A Japanese donburi dish of chicken, onion, scallions and beaten eggs simmered in dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, and served over rice.
Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl (oyakodon)
Chicken / duck / turkey+ Egg+ Rice / other grain recipe

Cook’s notes

Chicken

Thigh fillet is preferred in Asia. It is also my personal choice. But I had trimmings from chicken drumettes. The drumette is connected to the breast so those trimmings were part of the breast meat. And I used them in this dish. The upside of using breast meat? The cooking time is so much shorter. After all, overcook chicken breast meat and it comes out dry.

Onions

Red or yellow? Yellow is traditional but there’s been a severe white / yellow onion shortage in the Philippines for almost half a year, driving the prices to dizzying heights. So, red onions in this recipe.

Final tips

The trick to moist eggs? Drizzle over the chicken in two portions. The first portion cooks thoroughly; the second, just barely. 
By using more mirin, adding sugar becomes unnecessary.

Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl (oyakodon)

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Japanese
Label: Chicken fillet, Rice bowl
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup dashi if using instant dashi, dissolve a tablespoon in a cup of water
  • 6 tablespoons mirin
  • 4 tablespoons sake
  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 cups thin slices of chicken fillets (I like to keep the skin on but you can remove it) cut into slices about a quarter inch thick
  • 2 medium onions peeled and thinly sliced
  • 6 eggs lightly stirred
  • ½ cup sliced scallions light and dark green portions of the leaves, separated

Instructions

  • With the heat on high, pour the dashi, mirin, sake and soy sauce into a wok or shallow pan. Allow to boil uncovered for two minutes.
    Making oyakodon sauce with dashi, sake, mirin, soy sauce and sugar before adding sliced onions
  • Scatter the sliced onions into the boiling sauce.
  • Spread the sliced chicken over the onions. Bring to the boil. If you see scum rising to the surface, skim it off. Lower the heat to medium and cook uncovered just until the chicken is done.
    Simmering chicken, beaten eggs and scallions to make oyakodon
  • Drizzle half of the stirred eggs over the chicken and sprinkle in the light green portion of the scallions. Allow the eggs to cook fully.
  • Drizzle in the remaining half of the eggs, sprinkle in the dark green portion of the scallions, turn off the heat and leave for ten seconds.
    Cooking oyakodon in a wok
  • Ladle the chicken and egg mixture over cooked rice. Serve your oyakodon immediately.
    Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl (oyakodon)
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Meaty with a dash of veggies