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Japanese Donburi (Mixed Rice Bowls)

30 April, 2019 Shana Shameer

Japanese Donburi (Mixed Rice Bowls) – Oyakodon and Chicken Katsudon

Donburi is a Japanese “rice bowl dish” consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients which are simmered in a dashi (fish and seaweed stock), and served over rice. Donburi meals are served in oversized Japanese bowls called donburi.

The simmering sauce varies according to season, ingredients, region, and taste. A typical sauce might consist of dashi, soy sauce and mirin. Donburi can be made from almost any ingredients, including leftovers, similar to how we can make fried rice with leftover items.

Oyakodon

Some types of Japanese donburi include:

Oyakodon – Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl,

Chicken Katsudon – Breaded Fried Chicken Cutlet Rice Bowl,

Gyūdon – Beef and Rice Bowl,

Unadon – Eel and Rice Bowl,

Karedon – Curry flavored dashi Rice Bowl

Kaisendon – Thin sliced Sashimi Rice Bowl

There are several other types. For my family, we usually stick to Oyakodon, Chicken Katsudon or Gyudon.

Oyakodon is cooked in one saucepan where onions, chicken, and egg are simmered in a dashi-based stock. It is then poured over a bowl of fluffy steamed Japanese rice. Utterly comforting, this is the kind of one-bowl meal you can cook 15-20 minutes.

Chicken Katsudon on the other hand – is Crispy chicken katsu served with eggs over rice. Very Yummy and enjoyed by everyone! Katsu (カツ), is a shortened form of katsuretsu (カツレツ), meaning “cutlet”.

So for many of my readers who like to adventure into foreign foods, but have trouble with some Japanese foods, my recipe is catered for you… You see, the authentic recipe uses ‘dashi’ stock

Dashi is a Japanese stock: a fundamental ingredient in many Japanese dishes. Dashi can be made from dried kelp pr dried fish flakes (kombu , katsuobushi , iriko or niboshi ). Dashi powder sachets are also available to make instant dashi stock.

Types of Dashi Powder that are available in small ready-to-use sachets.

Katsuo Dashi (Japanese Soup stock made from dried Bonito flakes)
Kombu Dashi (Japanese Soup stock made from Dried Kelp(seaweed))
Katsuo Dashi + Kombu Dashi (Combined Japanese Soup stock made from dried Bonito flakes andDried Kelp)
Niboshi Dashi ( made with Dried Anchovies)
Shiitake Dashi (made with Shiitake Mushroom)
Ago Dashi (made with Dried Flying Fish)
Vegetable Dashi (Vegetable Soup Stock, may or may not include kelp)

My Indian, Arab and South Asian friends sometimes have trouble with the flavor and aroma of the dashi stock. It is an acquired taste. So when I started making it for my husband and friends, I had to experiment a lot, to make it to their liking.

I found that simply by eliminating the dashi stock and using soup stock or Knorr Hao Chi All-In-One Seasoning instead of homemade dashi stock or powder. The Knorr seasoning powder works the best… You could replace this by using garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper powder, and brown sugar.

In the end, we have a very quick and tasty Japanese meal, without that tricky dashi scent. I hope those who like to try new foods but can’t go quite all the way on those authentic flavors, will enjoy this one as well.. And for those who would like the whole experience, just use the original ingredients which are specified in the recipe.

Oyakudon, ( Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl) Oyako means “parent and child,” a reference to the eggs and chicken in this dish. Chicken and onions are cooked in the stock, spiked with mirin, sake, and soy sauce. You can omit the Mirin if you must, a non-alcoholic substitute would be to use 1 tablespoon vinegar or balsamic vinegar and a 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar for every 1 tablespoon of mirin… Halal Mirin is also available. You can also use rice vinegar instead of sake, for small amounts of substitutions such as this recipe. Lightly beaten eggs are added and swirled into this soupy mixture, giving it a fluffy eggy twist. The eggs should be set softly. This resulting mixture is plopped on top of cooked white Japanese rice and it is just so yummy!

And my Version of Chicken Katsu Don is simply making Oyakudon, with less chicken in the mixture, and instead of making crispy crumbed chicken cutlets to lay on top of the rice along with the same eggy-chicken-broth. Regular Katsudon involves adding the fried cutlets to the broth and cooking in the sauce, which loses some of that crisp texture in the process, but is still yummy. Since everyone in my family likes the crispy chicken cutlets, I usually make an Oyakudon-katsudon combo!

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Japanese Donburi (Mixed Rice Bowls) – Oyakodon and Chicken Katsudon

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Recipe Name: Japanese Donburi (Mixed Rice Bowls) – Oyakodon and Chicken Katsudon
Recipe Type: Rice / Japanese
Author: Shana c/o Recipes ‘R’ Simple
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: (4 servings )

Recipe at a glance: (For detailed RECIPE, see below)

Simmer onions and stock ingredients together.
Add chicken.
Add lightly beaten Eggs and cook till very lightly set.
Pour over Cooked white rice.
(For Katsudon : Fry Crispy Crumb-Coated Chicken Cutlets and add over the rice bowl as above).