Oyakodon (Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl)
35 min · 55 g protein · 525 cals / serving
Japan's favourite home-style rice bowl: chicken, shiitake and plenty of soft, sweet onion simmered in a savoury dashi with soy and mirin, then beaten egg poured over and lidded for a minute so it sets into silky, barely firm curds. The whole lot slides over steamed rice and soaks it with the sauce. Scallions on top, shichimi if you like heat, and a sharp little cucumber pickle on the side.
Ingredients
Rice
- 2/3 cup sushi rice, Japanese short-grain, rinsed
- scant 3/4 cup water
Quick cucumber pickle
- 1 large cucumber, very thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/3 tsp salt
Simmering sauce
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tsp dashi granules, or 360 ml (1 1/2 cups) homemade dashi in place of the water and granules
- 2 1/2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 3/4 tsp granulated sugar
- 3 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
- 10 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 1/2 lb chicken breast, or thighs, in thin bite-size slices
- 4 large eggs, beaten with the whites, streaky not smooth
- 3 large egg whites
To serve
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or shichimi togarashi (optional)
Steps
- Cook the rice: rinse it until the water runs nearly clear, then simmer with the water, covered, on the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Leave it covered off the heat for 10 minutes.
- Make the pickle: toss the cucumber with the salt, leave 10 minutes, squeeze gently and stir in the rice vinegar.
- Pour the water, dashi granules, soy, mirin and sugar into a wide frying pan (or two smaller ones) and bring to a simmer. Add the onion and shiitake and simmer 6 minutes until the onion is soft and sweet.
- Add the chicken in one layer, cover and simmer gently 5–7 minutes, turning the pieces once, until cooked through to 165°F.
- Pour two thirds of the beaten egg in a slow circle over the chicken, cover and cook 1 minute. Pour in the rest, cover, take the pan off the heat and leave 1 minute more: the egg should be just set with a few soft, glossy patches.
- Spoon rice into four bowls, slide the chicken, onion and egg over it with plenty of the sauce, scatter the scallions on top and serve the cucumber pickle on the side.
Good to know
How soft should the egg be?
In Japan it is served soft, with some runny parts. For fully set egg, keep the lid on over low heat for 2–3 minutes after the second pour; it is still good.
Breast or thigh?
Thigh is the classic and richer, at about 67 instead of 73; breast, sliced thin and simmered gently, stays tender in the sauce and keeps the bowl lighter. Use either, or half and half.
What if I have no dashi?
Chicken broth works in place of the water and granules. The flavour is less smoky but still lovely.
Making it for one or two?
The traditional way is one portion at a time in a small pan, then slid onto the rice in one piece. Quarter or halve everything and cook in batches.
Per
- Calories
- 83
- Protein
- (44%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (19%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (37%)
- 8 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 141 mg
About 45% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2099 kcal goes into the pot and 2814 g of ingredients comes out as about 2515 g of food: 83 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.