Oyakodon

My first Japanese dish is one style of donburi, a popular "rice bowl dish" that has many iterations. It seems that most donburi feature some kind of protein and/or vegetable with scallions simmered in a dashi-based sauce (that broth/stock I mentioned in yesterday's post).

Allow me digress for a moment. Last night, I prepared enough konbu dashi (dried kelp broth) for two recipes I'll be making, including tonight's. To make 2 quarts of broth, I used a 9" length of konbu. Sensitive to the fact that Japanese cooking tends to be very high in sodium, I thoroughly rinsed the konbu to remove the dried salt that coated its surface. I submerged the konbu in the water for about 90 minutes, before beginning to heat it on low. Then, I promptly forgot all about it! Chores, spring training baseball and other diversions got in the way, and I remembered it was cooking about two hours later.

I was supposed to slowly bring it to a boil over low heat and cease cooking it then, but that never happened. It barely blipped away for that two hours, but I ended up with a nice broth nonetheless. I'm sure it could be stronger, but the mild, briny broth I ended up with suits me just fine. It really is delicious, so don't be afraid to make some for your own dishes.

Anyhoo, back to tonight's recipe. For my donburi, I chose to make oyakodon. Why? It's all in the name. Oyakodon translates to "parent and child" in Japanese, a playful moniker that's been given to this dish because it contains both chicken and eggs. When I then learned that a similar dish on a Chinese menu was reportedly the inspiration for the title of Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion," I was hooked! Turns out, it's an amazingly good dish that's a snap to make. I have a feeling the leftovers will just get better and better.

After putting some Japanese medium-grain white rice on to cook (enough to yield 4 cups, as this recipe serves 4-6), here's how I made the oyakodon:

1⅔ cups konbu dashi
5 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1½ lb chicken breast, sliced into strips
10 scallions, chopped
6 eggs, whisked until frothy


Preheat the broiler. In a large, ovenproof skillet, bring the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once the sugar dissolves, add the cornstarch and stir to remove any lumps. Then, add the chicken pieces and continue to simmer for a few minutes, till the chicken pieces are opaque and the sauce begins to thicken. Then, add the scallions and begin to whisk the eggs. When the eggs are light and airy, pour them over the chicken mixture. Don't stir the eggs into the sauce; instead, allow them to "marble" the sauce.

Place the skillet under the broiler and cook until most of the liquid on top of the mixture is dry and the eggs are cooked through, about 6-8 minutes. Slide it out of the skillet onto the cooked rice that's been spread onto the bottom of a large, shallow bowl. Scoop and enjoy!