Donburi Recipe: Japanese Breakfast Oyakodon

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Oyakodon, from the Japanese “parent-and-child donburi”, is a rice bowl served with chicken and egg – hence the name. Rice, chicken and eggs? That mightn’t be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about breakfast.

However, oyakodon – a mellow and comforting bowl of classic Japanese ingredients – will make you want to reconsider your morning routine. The melt-in-the-mouth egg and dashi broth, with just hint of sweetness, is a perfect sauce to partner the simmered chicken and bright white short-grain rice. A dash of sesame oil and spring onion to finish lifts the flavours. And for a true Japanese breakfast, serve with a bowl of miso soup.

What are the 5 types of Donburi?

‘Don’ means bowl in Japanese, and there are several very popular donburi dishes:

Oyakodon: chicken, egg, spring onion and rice
Katsudon: breaded fried pork and rice
Kaisendon: raw seafood and rice
Gyudon: beef and rice, a popular cheap fast food
Unadon: grilled eel in soy sauce and rice

What rice do you use for Donburi?

We have used short grain rice, also known as sushi rice. This very high-quality, short-grained Japanese rice has almost ball-like grains, which retain starch better than longer-grained varieties. The rice makes a great side dish on its own, seasoned with furikake seasoning, as well as forming the base layer of a donburi meal.

Ingredients for donburi Serves: 2

125 ml dashi stock (water + 1 tsp dashi stock powder)
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp mirin
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp sugar
½ onion, finely sliced
2 boneless chicken thighs, skin removed, chopped into 1cm pieces
3 eggs
1 spring onion, finely sliced, separated into white and green
2 cups short grain rice, cooked (to serve)
Toasted sesame oil, to serve

Method for donburi

Heat together dashi stock, sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and sliced onion in a small saucepan and simmer for 1 minute.
Add the chicken pieces. Simmer for 10 minutes or until cooked.
Remove from heat and stir in the sliced white spring onion. Add the egg and toss very quickly until gently set. Divide the rice between two or three bowls. Pour the chicken-egg mixture over the rice, dividing it equally across the bowls.
Garnish with sliced spring onion greens. Drizzle with a little toasted sesame oil.