When I first moved to Japan, I thought that Japanese food was complicated and time-consuming to make. Cut to my friend telling me about her signature one-pan dish that only needed a handful of ingredients, and I was sold.
Today on Japanese Recipe Adventures, we’ll be making oyakodon, rice topped with onions, fried egg and chicken simmered in a blend of traditional Japanese seasonings. It gets its name from oya (親, parent), ko (子, child) and don (丼, bowl)—literally “parent-and-child donburi.” Pretty dark if you ask me!
This is an excellent recipe to have in your arsenal if you want something tasty but inexpensive and easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken breast or thigh
- 1/2 an onion
- 2 eggs (scrambled)
- 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
For the oyakodon sauce
- 1/2 cup of dashi (soup stock such as miso, chicken or fish).
- 1 1/2 tablespoon of mirin (sweet rice wine for cooking)
- 1 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
Directions for making oyakodon
- Cut up the chicken breast into uniform pieces.
- Slice up the onion.
- Add the vegetable oil to a frying pan and cook on medium heat.
- Add the sliced chicken and onions (I prefer to cook these a bit before adding the sauce).
- Combine your oyakodon sauce ingredients and add the mixture to the pan.
- Cover the pan with a lid, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook for five to six minutes.
- Drizzle in the eggs.
- After the egg is cooked and settled to your liking, turn off the heat.
Putting it together
- Distribute the oyakodon over a bowl of cooked rice.
- You can serve it with any side dish, however, oyakodon is commonly accompanied by a bowl of miso soup.
- You can also add a bit of garnish such as nori (seaweed) or green onion.
Have you made oyakodon before? What are some of your favorite Japanese dishes? Let us know in the comments!
