[Shinya Shokudou - Chapter 11] Oyakodon

We have already reached the eleventh chapter of our Shinya Shokudou cooking club.  I bet many of us didn't expect we would make it this far when we started, but we are just having too much fun cooking, sharing, learning from each other and making new friends week after week!  Our member base is now over 30 people from all over the world, and next week, we are going to have our first gathering.  I can't wait to meet some of the members in person!

We have already planned the menu for the next five chapters.  I'm pretty excited because they are all dishes that I want to learn!  One thing that I've discovered over the last few weeks is that a lot of the Japanese dishes look complicated when you have them at a restaurant, but in fact, if you are willing to try, they can be quite easily replicated at home - all you need is a good recipe and an experimental spirit!

The challenge for this week is Oyakodon (親子丼). Oyako means "parent and child" and Oyakodon is essentially chicken (parent) and egg (child) over a bowl of rice. Don comes from the word Donburi which means "a large bowl".  I must have had Oyakodon (親子丼) over a hundred times at restaurants in the past but I've always had the impression that it's not easy to make especially if you have to keep the eggs light and fluffy.  It turns out that it's a very simple dish, so simple that I can add it to my Lazy Man's Recipe series.  You don't believe me?  Try it out for yourself and see!

Adpated from Cooking with a Dog's recipe

Serves 1
Difficulty: Easy 

Ingredients:
50ml dashi stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon sake
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon mirin
1/2 small onion, sliced
75g boneless chicken thigh, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 eggs
1 bunch of mitsuba (Japanese three-leaf parsley), cut stems into 1 inch strips and leave the tips (the three leaves as garnish) 
200g fresh steamed rice

Method:
1. Crack the eggs in a small bowl and beat the eggs lightly.
2. Mix the dashi stock, soy sauce, sake, sugar, mirin and heat the mixture in a small pan.  Add the onion  slices to the mixture and distribute them evenly.  Cover with a lid and simmer for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
3. Add the chicken pieces and cover again.  When the chicken is almost cooked, flip them over and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. When the chicken is fully cooked, pour 2/3 of the egg into the pan, cover and simmer for 10 seconds.
5. Add the remaining egg mixture and mitsuba, cover and turn off the heat immediately.  Allow to sit for 15 seconds.
6. Put hot steamed rice into a large bowl and quickly pour the chicken and egg over the rice.  Served immediately.

Let's take a look at other members' Oyakodon!