According to all of the Japanese food blogs (the ones written in English) Oyakdon literally means “parent-child bowl”. My first thought was that it referred to a mother’s dish shared with her child. Really, that’s what I thought, it made sense. According to Nami-san of Just One Cookbook however, it referred to parent=chicken and child=egg. That made more sense. I’m not much into donburi or rice bowl dishes but I sometimes crave it for reasons I still do not know. I get over this unexplained desire and uncertainty by making myself a donburi.
???????????????????????????????
Oyakodon (Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)
2 boneless chicken breast
3 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tbsp sugar
1 cup chicken stock (or preferably dashi)
1 large onion
2 eggs slightly beaten
Scallions for garnish, chopped
Instructions:
1. Wash and pat dry the boneless chicken breast. Cut into chunks. Peel and slice the onion thinly. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, bring mirin to a boil (the recipes where I based this listed an addition of 2 tbsp sake, I skipped it since I don’t have sake).
3. Add chicken stock (or dashi if you have it), soy sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil again.
4. Once boiling, add the thinly sliced onion and chicken chunks then cook covered over medium heat. I used free range chicken that we raise in our farm. This type of chicken is best for stews or soups since it’s a bit tough, so for this recipe I cooked it a little longer than the original recipe required. By the way, as the chicken, the broth smelled so good I had to stop and sit for a while, immersing myself in the aroma.
5. Once the chicken is tender enough, I drizzled the eggs over the chicken, cook until set covered. I must admit I overcooked some of the eggs, it turned brown, so I drizzled another egg and carefully made sure I don’t overcook it this time. Add the chopped scallions then turn the heat down.
6. Pour the chicken and eggs over freshly steamed rice and drizzle as much sauce as desired. Serve immediately.
???????????????????????????????
Oh, it just came to me. The reason I wanted to make a donburi was because of this new ceramic bowl. I found a glass wares store that sells Japanese (and some that are noticeably Chinese) ceramic plates, bowls and tea cups. I was ecstatic. I kept coming back, the owner insisted to take my phone number in case they have new items available. How sweet!