Oyako-Don (Chicken & Egg with Rice)

This is a super quick and easy one-bowl meal to prepare for times when you have nothing but eggs and chicken in the fridge, or when you have three noisy kids at home who need lots of attention. Apart from the rice that needs a little more time to cook, the topping for the rice takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. It's such a versatile dish that you can add other vegetables or meat to it, or top the rice with tempura, tonkatsu or chicken katsu instead.

(This post is actually from one year ago, but I decided to update the photo (I make oyako-don quite regularly on lazy days) as the old one was rather cringeworthy. Looking at old food photos is like taking a trip down memory lane and browsing through those old pictures of yourself with bad hair, bad clothes and bad makeup!)

This recipe is adapted from Japanese Cooking at Home by Hideo Dekura:

Oyako means "parent and child" because both chicken and egg are used in this dish. Don comes from the word Donburi, a "large bowl" in which savoury rice or hot noodles with soup are served.

Oyako-Don Recipe

Ingredients:

200g (7 oz) chicken thigh fillet

1 tablespoon mirin

Dashi Mixture:

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp sake

1/3 cup super dashi (I used a pinch of dashi-nomoto mixed with 1/3 cup water)

1 small brown onion, thinly sliced

1 stem spring onion, sliced diagonally, plus extra for garnish

2 eggs, beaten

2 bowls cooked short-grained sushi rice

Method:

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and marinate with mirin.
2. Combine ingredients for dashi mixture.
3. Pour a little oil in a small pan and fry chicken until browned and cooked.
4. Add onions and fry until softened. Then add spring onions and stir briefly.
5. Add dashi mixture and bring to a boil, then reduce heat.
6. Pour beaten eggs in a circular motion over the simmering mixture. Set over low heat till egg is just cooked.
7. Place a portion of hot rice into each bowl and slide half of the chicken and egg toppings over the rice in each bowl. Garnish with extra spring onions and serve hot.