Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Oyakodon is a classic donburi (rice bowl), and it translates to “parent and child bowl”. The name comes from the main proteins in the dish: chicken (the parent) and egg (the child). You think that’s strange? It gets weirder! In Kansai, the west of Japan, some shops replace the chicken with duck, and refer to the dish as itokodon, or “cousin bowl”. When a donburi includes egg and a non-chicken meat (such as pork or beef), it’s called tanindon, or “stranger bowl”. There is even a seafood version of the parent and child donburi, which includes salmon (the parent) with salmon roe (the child)! Well, I guess if you’re not squeamish about eating animal protein, you can’t be too squeamish about the names of the dish… Enjoy this delicious taste of Japanese dark humour 😉
Oyakodon
Ingredients
- 100 g chicken thigh
- ½ stalk naganegi (Welsh onion)
- 3 eggs
- a few leaves mitsuba to taste
- 2 bowls steamed rice
- ¾ cup dashi (seasoning)
- 3 tbsp soy sauce (seasoning)
- 3 tbsp mirin (seasoning)
Instructions
- 「PREP」Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Slice the naganegi diagonally into thin rounds. Chop the mitsuba. Lightly mix the eggs together.
- Heat the frying pan and add the chicken, onion and seasoning ingredients.
- Bring to a boil, then add the chopped mitsuba and mixed egg. If you like your egg more runny, add only 3/4 of the egg mix at this point.
- Return to a simmer (and add the rest of the egg mix), then turn off the heat and dish it over a bowl of steamed rice.
Did you make this recipe?
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