It is shinmai (new harvest rice) season, when the freshest, best-tasting rice of the year becomes available. What better way to celebrate than with a steaming hot donburi, essentially a bowl of rice topped with something savory?
One of my favorite donburi is the classic chicken-and-egg combination called “oyakodon,” which means "parent and child bowl." This dish combines tender morsels of chicken cooked in a savory-sweet broth that is soft set with eggs.
According to one theory, oyakodon got its start in the 1880s at a chicken sukiyaki restaurant in Tokyo called Tamahide. At the end of the meal, customers would mix the last bit of stewed chicken and vegetables with raw egg and call it "oyako-ni." A popular takeout meal, this eventually became oyakodon, though nowadays the dish is mostly served piping hot.
The key to oyakodon is how you treat the egg. Avoid stirring — you don’t want to scrambled them; you want to form a kind of very loose omelet. In this recipe, I save one egg yolk to be slipped on top of the cooked eggs and mixed in before serving for a creamy infusion.
Oyakodon is traditionally made with sliced onion, but this version is inspired by one I had in Kyoto and uses kujō negi, a type of thin spring onion grown in the Kansai region. Its sweetness and tenderness make it perfect for oyakodon, and the bright green color contrasts nicely with the egg.
Serves 2
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
• 300 grams boneless skinless chicken thigh
• 2 kujō negi spring onion
• 5 fresh eggs
• 100 milliliters water
• 45 milliliters shirodashi (liquid dashi)
• 7 grams sugar
• 5 milliliters vegetable oil
• 400 grams cooked rice (warmed)
• Optional: shichimi tōgarashi (chili pepper mix) to taste
Directions:
1. Slice the chicken into bite-size pieces (about 1.5 centimeters).
2. Finely chop two tablespoons of the green part of the kujō negi . Cut the rest into thin, diagonal slices.
3. Mix the water, shirodashi and sugar together in a small bowl.
4. Separate two of the eggs and set the yolks aside. Combine the rest of the eggs, including the separated whites, and beat them together lightly.
5. Heat up the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and saute until they change color. Add the water, shirodashi and sugar mix and sliced kujō negi, then cover the pan with a lid and simmer until the spring onion is tender and the chicken is cooked through (about five minutes).
6. Pour in two thirds of the beaten egg and cover the pan again. Cook until the egg is soft set (about three minutes). Add the rest of the beaten egg and cook for an additional two to three minutes.
7. Spoon the mixture over bowls of freshly cooked rice. Make an indentation in the middle and slide in the egg yolk you previously set aside. Sprinkle with the chopped kujō negi and optional shichimi tōgarashi. Mix the egg yolk into the cooked egg topping before serving.
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