How to Make Oyakodon (Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl): The Basic Recipe and Tips for Getting It Right

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Oyakodon, a Japanese rice bowl of chicken and egg simmered in a savory-sweet broth, depends on two things: adding the egg in two stages and taking it off the heat while it is still half set. This is a basic recipe for two servings with chicken thigh and onion, along with tips for getting it right.

How to Make Oyakodon (Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl): The Basic Recipe and Tips for Getting It Right

Ingredients (2 servings)

Boneless chicken thigh: 1 piece (about 200 g)
Onion: 1/2 (about 100 g)
Eggs: 3
Mitsuba (Japanese parsley, a mild herb): 1/4 bunch
Cooked Japanese rice: 2 large bowls (about 400 g)
Dashi (Japanese soup stock): 120 ml
Soy sauce: 2 tbsp
Mirin (sweet rice wine for cooking): 1 tbsp
Sugar: 1/2 tbsp

You can replace the dashi with 120 ml of water and 1/3 tsp of instant dashi granules. Chicken breast also works, and thin green onions can stand in for the mitsuba.

Instructions

1. Cut the ingredients

Trim the excess fat from the chicken and cut it into small bite-size pieces. Slice the onion 5 mm thick, and cut the mitsuba into 3 cm lengths.

2. Beat the eggs

Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly with chopsticks, leaving a few lumps of egg white.

3. Simmer the chicken and onion

Put the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar in a small frying pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the chicken and onion, and skim off any foam when it returns to a boil. Simmer over medium heat for about 3 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

4. Add half the egg

With the broth boiling, pour in half the egg, moving in a circle from the center outward. Cover and cook for about 30 seconds, until the egg starts to set around the edges.

5. Add the rest of the egg and let it steam

Pour in the remaining egg, scatter the mitsuba on top, and turn off the heat. Cover and let it steam for about 1 minute.

6. Serve over rice

Divide the rice between two bowls. Ladle half the chicken and egg over each, then spoon over the broth left in the pan.

Tips for getting it right

Do not overbeat the eggs

Cutting through the whites two or three times with chopsticks is enough. It is fine if lumps of white remain.

Wait until the broth is boiling

If the broth is not hot enough, the egg will not turn out fluffy, so check that it is boiling just before you pour. Pouring from the center evens out the cooking, because the outer part of the pan runs hotter.

Add the egg in two stages

When the second pour goes on top of egg that has started to set, set and half-set layers overlap, and the result is soft and creamy.

Do not overcook the chicken

Chicken turns tough if it is cooked too long. Add it to boiling broth, and move on to the egg once it is cooked through.

Cook the rice on the firm side

Firmer rice soaks up the broth well and takes on the flavor.

Troubleshooting

The egg set hard and turned crumbly. It was cooked too long. Lift the lid to check during steaming, and serve while the egg is still half set.

The egg is too runny. Keep the lid on and let it steam longer, until it reaches the firmness you like.

The chicken is tough. It simmered too long. Cut the chicken small and add the egg as soon as it is cooked through.

The flavor is too strong. The broth has reduced too far. Taste it before adding the egg, and if it is too strong, add a little dashi or water.

The rice is soggy. Either the rice is too soft or there is too much broth. Cook the rice firmer and spoon on less broth.

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