How to make Japanese oyakodon at home

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-13 00:26

Oyakodon is to Japan what pizza is to Italy. Despite the exotic name, this is just a bowl of rice with chicken and egg. Several traditional ingredients and an unusual cooking technology that can be easily reproduced at home give the dish a zest.

Ingredients:

• 300 ml dashi broth;
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of sake;
• 170 g onions;
• 340 g of chicken meat;
• 3 green onion feathers;
• 4 eggs;
• boiled rice for serving;
• sugar to taste.

The cooking process begins with the preparation of the broth. Oyakodon is based on dashi broth, which can be easily found on the shelf of any large supermarket in the sushi section. Dilute the powder following the directions on the package, transfer to a thick-walled skillet and heat. Pour soy sauce into boiling dashi, add a little sugar and sake. Some people prefer to add mirin instead of sake, which is essentially the sweet analogue of sake. If you can't buy either one or the other, then in extreme cases, you can use simple dry white wine or rice vinegar, adjusting the amount of sugar to taste.

Once the liquid comes to a boil, add the onion half rings and reduce the heat. Let the onion simmer for about 5 minutes, until noticeably softer.

Add thin strips of chicken to the onion. Both thighs and fillets can be used. The main thing is to cut the meat really thin so that the pieces are ready in 3-5 minutes. Then try the soup, estimate the amount of soy sauce and sugar. The soup should be sweet and salty.

While the chicken is on the stove, beat four eggs, separating a couple of yolks and setting them aside. Add half the green onions to the chicken, then pour the beaten eggs over the top, spreading them out as evenly as possible with the chopsticks.

Eggs in oyakodon are a key ingredient. They are brought to half-readiness, and the dish itself is served with raw yolk, so be sure to use only a product from trusted manufacturers or pasteurized eggs.

Despite the traditional serving of half-baked eggs, you can keep the omelet on the stove for as long as you like until it is cooked to your preferred level.

Place the omelet on top of the rice. In addition to the omelet, the broth should also remain in the pan, which will saturate the rice.

The next step is entirely up to you: make a small indentation in the center of the dish and pour in the raw yolk. Top with leftover chopped green onions (traditionally Mitsuba greens) and chili flakes before serving.