Chicken and Egg Don (Oyakodon) 日式亲子丼

Everyone loves simple and delicious recipes, and today's dish definitely belongs to this category. Chicken and Egg Don (also known as Oyakodon) is a very popular Japanese rice bowl dish, loved by many inside and outside Japan. In Japanese, Oya means "parent" and ko means "child" - literally translated Oyakodon becomes 'parent-child-rice-bowl', a reflection of the relationship between chicken and egg. It is also an apt name considering its popularity with both the young and old.

The chicken, onion and egg is simmered in a savory-sweet sauce and served over rice. This sauce is made from the "tried-and-tested" combination of mirin, soy sauce, sugar and dashi (Japanese stock). Quick and easy, it's hard not to enjoy cooking and eating this.

Dashi is a typical Japanese stock made from dried fish flakes and/or kelp. It is usually used as a soup base or in a variety of dishes to add flavor and depth to the food taste. My Japanese friend gave me some dashi sachets (see picture above) one time, I find them so convenient and tasty I always keep some on hand. Boil one dashi sachet in water for 5 minutes, and it's done. It saves me the effort of making dashi from scratch if I don't have time, require only a small amount, or am simply feeling lazy. I can easily get these sachets at Asian/Japanese supermarkets here. 

The version I am using today is made of dried bonito and kelp ground into powder form, there are other variations which include dried mushroom, sardines - those are fine for this recipe too. One sachet yields more dashi than required for this recipe. The extra dashi can be used to make a simple miso soup with tofu.

CHICKEN AND EGG DON RECIPE
Serves 2

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Ingredients
250g chicken thigh, cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion, cut into thin strips
4 eggs, beaten
400g steamed rice
1 stalk scallion, chopped finely

Sauce
1 cup dashi (Japanese stock)
2 Tbsp mirin
5 Tbsp soy sauce
1½ Tbsp sugar

Steps:

1) Prepare Japanese stock (dashi) according to package instructions. [Mine says to boil one sachet in 2½ cups (600 ml) water for 3-5 minutes.] Set aside 1 cup stock for the sauce.

2) In a bowl, mix the sauce ingredients together. Microwave for 30 seconds (or cook over low heat on stove) and stir to dissolve sugar.

3) Divide steamed rice into 2 serving bowls. Divide all other ingredients into 2 portions - each serving will be cooked individually.

4) Using a small pan, heat up the sauce over medium heat. Add chicken, onion and cook for about 3-5 minutes, depending on thickness of chicken. Pour beaten eggs over chicken and cook until eggs are half done, about 1 minute or so. Transfer chicken and egg onto rice. Repeat for the other serving.

5) Garnish with chopped scallions and serve immediately.