Oyako-don

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Oyako-don Sunday May 28

(1) chicken breast, (2) egg,
(3) mushrooms (shiitake, if you've got them),
(4) mitusba


You don't have to go to this
length to make broth. But I did.


One key thing is to not stir the
egg once you've added it.


Too much liquid will make it more soupy.

You'll notice that the ingredient list here is actually very similar to Zousui, which we made in March. I apologize for letting over a month pass with no new recipe goodness.

One clever bit about Oyako-don is in the name. This recipe uses both chicken breast and egg together; in Japanese, "oya" means parent, and "ko" means child. Oyako-don, quite literally, then, is "parents and children served over steamed rice". Mmmm. Wonder which one came first?

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon Hon-dashi (or katsuo-bushi, if you want to make it from scratch)
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin (Japanese cooking wine, slightly sweet)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 150g boneless chicken breast (skinless is up to you)
• 1, maybe 2 eggs
• 1 bunch mitsuba†
• 1 pack shiitake mushrooms, or other non-button type mushroom (I used namatake)
• White Rice

Preparation

1. Mix the first five ingredients (dashi, soy, water, mirin, sugar) in a saucepan and put over low heat.
2. Cut the mushrooms into slices, use your judgement on how much mushroom you want.
3. Cut one bunch (1/4 cup?) of mitsuba into bits, but leave them big enough so the leaves are mostly intact.
4. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
5. Mix the egg in a bowl.
6. When the saucepan liquid has started to simmer, remove it from the heat and set it aside. Measure out 1/2 cup of this liquid and put it in a different saucepan over low heat.
7. Add chicken and mushrooms. When the chicken is cooked through, add the mitsuba and stir in.
8. Dribble the egg mixture into the pan slowly and evenly. Do not stir the egg in once added.
9. Reduce the heat to just barely on, and in the meantime, serve a helping of rice into two rice bowls, leaving room at the top.
10. After 30-40 seconds, or to taste, depending on how runny you like your egg, pour half of the saucepan mixture on top of each rice bowl and serve.

Notes

• † As I've noted before, mitsuba may be hard to find Stateside; you simply need a fragrant herb that is slightly sweet, pungent, and good. Chives are a little too...oniony. Something not so onion-y. Parsley might not be sweet enough, but it might work well.
• If you like this dish, and wish to try it again, go ahead and add onions too. It's also good that way.