Hi friends! Happy 2016! How are you faring and/or eating this week? I’ve been ping-ponging between something like I must consume the healthiest superfood in the world, my stomach is drowning in butter and please don’t make me go cold turkey, my stomach needs more butter. After a little of each (hi there, Sunday night’s delivery pizza), I think this oyakodon is, happily, somewhere in between — something to comfort my butter-addled belly but still good for it, too. Oyakodon is always what comes to mind when I think of healing comfort food. A custard-y chicken and egg rice bowl, it’s warm, gently simmered, soft and savory. I first had it in the depths of a Boston winter on a sniffly sick day; it was one of our favorite meals in Japan after a rainy morning. It’s a homey, simple back-to-basics meal that just makes you feel cozy and good after a marathon of holiday eating, and especially now that winter has finally landed in New York (and getting myself out the door in the morning is looking like this), I feel like it’s pretty much perfect for that hug-in-a-bowl, comforting-but-nourishing in-between.
I expected that making oyakodon at home would be much harder than it was! But on top of how cozily delicious it is, it’s the simplest, 30-minute, one-pan meal, so easy to get right that I was amazed the first time I tried it. It’s just tender bites of chicken and sweet, jammy onions in a deeply savory mirin and soy sauce broth, simmered in a silky, eggy custard and ladled, soft and loosey-goosey, over fluffy white rice. The traditional version uses dashi stock, but if you (like me) often don’t have any on hand, a good, low-sodium chicken broth works just as well in my experience. You can keep the egg slightly runny as per tradition or cook it all the way through, use a lighter or darker soy sauce (mine was especially dark, as you can tell) depending on how salty you want it, and it all comes out just fine. The end result is hearty but not too heavy, a super gentle, true version of comfort food, and the perfect soft landing back into good-for-you things.
I hope you’re having an equally soft landing back into work and real life this week! Happy first week of 2016!
This post is in collaboration with Whole Foods Market. You can find the 365 brand chicken broth I used here or any other 365 Everyday Value product at Whole Foods for 10% off from January 15 to January 17, and see a few more of their 365 brand products put to good use here next week, too. Thank you to Whole Foods for sponsoring this post!
Oyakodon
adapted from Nami at Just One Cookbook.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken thighs, rinsed, patted dry, and sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 2 tbsp sake
- 1 cup 365 Organic Low-Sodium Chicken Broth (see Notes)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar (or a smidge more, if you’re like me and love your savory foods sweet)
- 1 cup thinly sliced onions (about 1 small onion)
- 3 large eggs
- 1–2 tbsp shredded fresh parsley or sliced scallions, for garnish
- 2–3 cups cooked rice (or however much you’d like for two)
Instructions
- In a 9- or 10-inch skillet, bring the mirin and sake to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken stock, soy sauce, and sugar, and bring to a boil again, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Once the mixture comes back to a boil, evenly distribute the onions and chicken, then lower the heat to medium and let simmer for 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Skim off any fat that may form on top.
- Once the chicken is cooked, gently beat the eggs for about 10 seconds in a small bowl, or until yolks are partially beaten but egg white remains visible. Drizzle about 3/4 of the egg evenly over the chicken, then cover and let cook for about a minute. Drizzle the remaining egg into the pan, then cover and cook until eggs are opaque, another minute or two. It should form a loosey-goosey, custard-y kind of omelette in the pan.
- Finally, sprinkle shredded parsley over the chicken just before serving, then remove from heat. Divide the rice evenly between two bowls, then use a slotted spatula to scoop the chicken and egg mixture onto the rice. Spoon a bit of the leftover juice in the pan over the rice, then garnish with extra parsley or scallions (and an extra egg yolk if you’re feeling decadent!) and enjoy hot.
Notes
The most authentic version of this will use dashi rather than chicken broth, but I tend to substitute broth most of the time, since I find that broth makes for just as tasty of a dish if you don’t have dashi on hand or the time to make it from scratch. Nami has some wonderful recipes for homemade dashi, too, in case you’d like to go the whole nine yards! She recommends the awase dashi for oyakodon.
If you use a raw egg yolk at the end, be sure to use pasteurized eggs!
Ksenia @ At the Immigrant's Table
The whole look of this dish just speaks to comfort. I make myself meals that are very similar on weeknights, except that I sub the chicken for cabbage – it gives it some substantial body that goes really well with egg and soy sauce. Thank you for sharing this beauty – and happy New Year!!!
claire
I was just rueing being a vegetarian and then spied this! Maybe a kombu “semi-dashi” and cabbage?…or maybe I should just go read up on egg-drop soup or something similar! Love the ooey-gooey onelette vibr here though.
tworedbowls
I bet a kombu dashi would work wonderfully, Claire!! And actually Erika at http://thepancakeprincess.com just told me she made this with tofu — maybe another option?! It sounded and looked incredible — even loosier and goosier and more comforting 🙂 Thank you for the kind words!
tworedbowls
Ooh, cabbage sounds so, so good! I can just imagine that texture and I agree it sounds like it would go perfectly. I can’t wait to try that next. Thank you, Ksenia!
Amanda
Welcome back! I am so making this. My husband will loooove it. And it doesn’t take tons of time. Added bonus that it calls for sake because 2 tbs in the pan translates to 2 cups on the lips :). Wait, what was that about indulgence?? Lmao re that video of the little girl. Happy New year. It’s always so wonderful to wake up to your posts and the fact that you make an effort on top of your demanding day job. All the best.
tworedbowls
Amanda, thank you so much for such thoughtfulness, always. Your comments truly make my day and have brought a smile to my face so often! They really mean so much. Thank you and hope you’re doing wonderfully.
Girl Named Allyn
I was literally just looking up a recipe for oyakodon yesterday, so… thanks for being a mind reader. This is 100% going on next week’s meal plan. Looks incredible.
tworedbowls
Ahh YAY! The best news — I hope you love it if you try it! Thank you so much, Allyn!
Heather (Delicious Not Gorgeous)
haven’t had oyakodon in ages, so this is obviously a sign! that creamy soft egg screams comfort to me, perfect for a week when i’m trying to get back into the swing of things and don’t want to do anything productive.
tworedbowls
That is exactly me these days!! Wishing us lots of comfort food to help us get back into productivity mode (JK I’m not sure when I’m ever in productivity mode.) Thanks so much, Heather!!
Shanna | Kiss My Bowl
Happy New Year! It was so nice to see this post in my inbox this morning! and… Yowza! My boyfriend would LOVE this! I’ll definitely be passing that along for him.
Erika
You know how I feel about comfort food. Custard-y chicken dishes speak my language. I’ve never had Oyakodon, that needs to change.. 🙂 Happy 2016!
Erica
I’ve never had this but I totally want to try it now, starting with this one! Also we are totally on the same vibes right now with the eating between healthy and comfort 😉 Hope you have the happiest start to your year Cynthia!!
stephanie
oyakodon is absolutely one of my favorite ever meals! i need to make and eat a bowl immediately 🙂
Mary Clay
yum. this is going on my new year’s resolution plan for sure. thanks for sharing such a beautiful and comforting dish!
Juliet
Hi! I don’t usually comment, but just wanted to let you know that I really love this post- the dish, the writing, the pictures, all of it looks wonderful! Thanks for the recipe- I’m definitely going to make it!
Considering The Radish
I’m salivating right now. This looks like exactly what I want to eat for dinner during these cold, frigid days. Custardy-chicken and egg that feels like a hug? Yes please.
Marta @ What should I eat for breakfast today
I love your writing, it’s so funny and positive! My time in Japan was full of not eating as it was my second month of pregnancy and my appetite was gone. But I’ll make this one 😀 it looks super delicious!
Chelsea (@TheWholeBite)
This looks like the perfect cozy, comfort, January food. Anything with an egg on top, I am SO down.
Lindsey
oh, yes, back-to-basics meals are so crucial after the holidays! this sounds like the perfect humble, yet soothing meal to get you back in working order 😉 hope you two are having a lovely start to 2016, and that this year brings you nothing but love, happiness, and light! xo’s
alice
It’s getting downright unpleasant in Boston now, so the thought of eating this next week (a particularly blustery and unpleasant weather forecast was made for it) is very soothing. Love how the egg yolk looks in the bowl- it screams comfort and warmth