A Japanese home-cooking classic, aptly named mother and child, Oyakodon is a dish of chicken and eggs poached in a dashi-based broth. The dashi and chicken quality are paramount. Oyakodon is a super easy
to prepare all-in-one kind of dish that feeds, warms and comforts an entire nation.
Ingredients
- 1 quantity of steamed white rice
- 16 fl oz/2 cups( 480 ml ) Primary Dashi
- 5 fl oz/ cup (150 ml) soy sauce
- 4 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp sake
- 4 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar
- 14 oz (400 g) chicken thighs, skinless
- 8 eggs, at room temperature
- 9 oz (250 g) onions, peeled and sliced lengthways
- 2 tbsp finely chopped chives, to garnish
- kizami nori (fine strands) or sushi nori (cut up into little squares)
- sansho pepper, to serve
How to Make It
- Cook the white rice. Keep it warm.
- Prepare the Primary Dashi. This dish is all about the dashi stock, but if you do not have the ingredients for this, you can use a dashi infusion bag (follow the instructions on the packet) or use instant dashi powder as a last resort (½ tablespoon instant dashi powder dissolved in 500 ml/18 fl oz/ generous 2 cups boiling water).
- In a bowl combine the Primary Dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar and mix well until the sugar has dissolved.
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized slices and set aside. Break the eggs into a bowl, very lightly stir with chopsticks or a fork and set aside.
- In a shallow pan (but deep enough to accommodate all the ingredients) bring the dashi mixture to the boil, then add the chicken and onions, cover, turn the heat down to medium and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
- Gradually pour two-thirds of the lightly stirred egg into the pan, working from the centre of the pan to the edges in a gentle swirling motion. Cook for about 1 minute, then add the remaining egg around the pan and cook for a further 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and let the dish rest, covered, for 1 more minute.
- While the oyako dish is resting, share the rice between 4 serving bowls. Cover the rice with the chicken, egg, onion and dashi mixture and top with a garnish of chopped chives, kizami nori or sushi nori and sansho pepper. Serve immediately.
