Oyakodon / Japan

What kind of dish is this?

This is a Japanese dish in which chicken and eggs are cooked in warishita (a sauce made of soy sauce, sugar, etc.) and served on top of a bowl of rice.

Name

Oyako = Parent and child
Don = Donburi = Rice bowl

It is named after the fact that both chicken and eggs are used in it.

Donburi(don)

In traditional Japanese cooking, rice and side dishes are served separately. The basic style is to bring each dish to the mouth separately.
For this reason, some people do not like to put side dishes on top of rice.
However, with the flowering of the merchant culture in the Edo period (1603-1868), the culture of short-tempered and unpretentious craftsmen who did not care about such style spread.
The first dish that came into existence was a buckwheat noodle dish called “Kakesoba.
It was born when people who found it troublesome to eat soba dipped in dipping sauce poured dipping sauce over it.
As a result of this influence, the rice bowl style of eating rice with side dishes on top was born.

Around 1804-1830, a variety of rice bowl dishes were born.
Various dishes such as sashimi and tempura came to be used as rice bowl dishes.
The first was Unadon (eel rice bowl), followed by Tendon (tempura rice bowl), and then Tekkadon (Red meat of tuna rice bowl).
※There is a theory that tendon was the first.
※From the 14th to the 16th century, something similar to rice bowl dishes existed.

History of Oyakodon

The origin of Oyakodon is unknown.
However, it is well known that it may have originated at Tamahide, a chicken restaurant with a long history in Tokyo.
Tamahide, which opened in 1760, was so popular at that time that people came from all over Japan.
However, there was one problem with the restaurant.
After the customers finished eating the chicken, they would be left with a thick, salty broth and pieces of chicken.
Tamahide wondered if there was any way to get rid of them for the sake of the people who came all the way here.
In 1887, inspired by the way customers ate, the restaurant’s landlady created a dish that combined leftover soup stock, pieces of chicken, eggs, and rice: oyakodon.

However, to this day, it is still considered vulgar in Japan to eat soupy food over rice.
So, serving this in a restaurant could lower the prestige of the restaurant.
For this reason, it was initially a delivery-only dish.
It has been served in Tamahide restaurants since 1979.

At about the same time, an interesting advertisement was published in Kobe.
In 1884, a little earlier than Tamahide, a newspaper advertisement mentioned Oyakodon.
However, it is not clear whether the Oyakodon is the same as what modern Japanese people think of.

Spread

There are many types of rice bowls, but Oyakodon makes it easy to manage and prepare the ingredients.
In addition, it can be eaten in a short time.
This is probably the reason why it is served at many Japanese restaurants such as soba noodle shops.

Others

This time, I made it based on a recipe (one of several home-style recipes) from chicken restaurant with a long history in Tokyo.
This recipe does not use onions or dashi, which are commonly used.
※Dashi is a family of stocks used in Japanese cuisine.

I also made it with eggs and chicken that cost three times more than what I routinely buy.
Because of this, it was the best Oyakodon I have ever had. Even though I didn’t use any onions or dashi.
I ate two meals a day for three days in a row.

And…this is the first time I used a single-serving Oyakodon pan (Oyakonabe). It’s great!
It’s small enough to cook in a shorter time than a regular frying pan. It’s also easy to serve with a bowl of rice.
In this recipe, I finished cooking in less than five minutes after I turned on the heat.
I don’t think I’ll be using it for anything other than Oyakodon or Katsudon, but I’m very satisfied.

Recipe of Oyakodon

Local recipe

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 1

Ingredients

  

No.1

• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin or white wine (1tbsp) and sugar (1/2tsp)
• 3 tbsp water
• 40 g chicken thighs cut into small pieces
• 40 g chicken breast cut into small pieces
• 5 g some kind of soup stock I didn't use it.

No.4

• 2 eggs

No.5

• Free mitsuba(Japanese parsley) You can use green onions, etc.

Instructions

 

• Put sugar, soy sauce, mirin, water, and chicken in a frying pan.
• Cover with a lid.

  Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.
• Open the lid and flip the chicken.

  Put the lid on and cook for 30 seconds.
• Crack eggs into a bowl and mix slightly.

  Add 1/2 to 2/3 of the egg mixture to the pan.

  Cover with a lid.

  Cook over low heat for 1 minute.
• Add the mitsuba and the rest of the eggs to the pan.

  Cover with a lid.

  Turn off the heat and let stand for 1 minute.

  Put it on top of rice.

  Finish.

Video

Notes

※This time I used a special cooking utensil(Oyakonabe), but you can also make it in a standard frying pan.

※Onions and Dashi (Japanese soup stock) are also commonly used, but in this case I left these out in order to enjoy the taste of the expensive eggs and chicken. In other words, this is a recipe that depends on the quality of the ingredients (chicken and eggs, of course, but also soy sauce, etc.).

※If you don’t have mirin, you can add a little white wine (1tbsp) and sugar (1/2tsp) and it will taste similar.

※Eggs in Japan are quality-controlled so that they can be eaten raw. If you are not in the habit of eating eggs raw, it is better to cook them thoroughly.

Keyword chicken, egg, rice