Silky Oyakodon (Chicken & Egg Rice Bowl)

⏱ 25 min · Serves 2

Japan's ultimate 15-minute comfort bowl: tender chicken thigh and sweet onion simmered in a savoury dashi-soy broth, blanketed in barely-set eggs and slid over hot rice. The name means 'parent and child' — and the trick is pulling the pan off the heat while the egg is still gloriously custardy.

Per serving: 655 kcal · 45.0g protein · 66.0g carbs · 21.0g fat

Ingredients

• 300g boneless chicken thighs, skin removed, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 4 large eggs
• 150ml dashi (or water + 1/2 tsp dashi powder)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 300g cooked short-grain Japanese rice (about 150g uncooked)
• Shichimi togarashi, to serve (optional)
• Nori strips, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Cook the rice if you haven't already, and keep it warm and covered.
2. In a small bowl, mix the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
3. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them only 5–6 times with chopsticks — you want streaks of white and yolk, not a uniform mixture.
4. Pour the sauce into a small frying pan (about 20cm) and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook 3 minutes until softening.
5. Add the chicken in a single layer, spreading it out. Simmer 5–6 minutes, turning once, until just cooked through and the onion is translucent.
6. Scatter over most of the spring onion, then pour two-thirds of the egg evenly over the pan. Cover and cook 45 seconds without stirring.
7. Drizzle over the remaining egg, cover again and cook 20–30 seconds more, then take off the heat. The top should still be glossy and slightly loose — it keeps setting.
8. Divide the hot rice between two deep bowls. Slide half the chicken-and-egg mixture onto each, letting some broth soak into the rice.
9. Top with the remaining spring onion, nori strips and a pinch of shichimi togarashi. Eat immediately with a spoon.