Oyakodon has been on my mind lately, but I knew I wanted to develop my own version when, after eating it twice in a week already, I found a recipe in my copy of Millie Lagares’ Japanese cookbook Umai — which I’ll be talking about more in a few weeks.
Poetically translated as ‘parent-and-child rice bowl’, I’m kind of amazed that this quick, easy dish of chicken and egg (cooked without any oil!) hasn’t caught on more in the fitness crowd. Perhaps that’s because it doesn’t lend itself to meal prep: the custardy, soft-set eggs are delicious served steaming from the pan, but lose their lustre a little as leftovers. This isn’t one to cook in bulk, and nor does it really scale tremendously well beyond two servings at a time.
It’s a simple enough recipe that there’s not too much room for variation in approach, but after working through Lagares’ recipe, along with others by Ivan Orkin and Just One Cookbook, I’ve figured out the approach that works for me.
I used skinless chicken thighs for the protein, though mostly for convenience. If you’re going to buy whole thighs and debone them then feel free to use the skin too. Following Lagares’ suggestion, I’ve also tried this with a small (300g) carton of silken tofu instead of the chicken and it worked excellently as a vegetarian version — Vivian actually preferred it. Just remember to get vegetarian dashi powder too, and cook the tofu for two minutes, rather than the five that the chicken gets.
Ingredients
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