Oyako-don is very popular every day menu in Japan. Easy to cook, and tastes delicious.
But I think this typical cuisine deserves a better name.
Let me explain “don” first.
Don is short for “Donburi (丼)” which is large bowl. XX-don is type of menu in a bowl with rice. For example, Kaisen-don (海鮮丼) is sea food (kaisen) on rice, in a bowl, and Gyu-don (牛丼) is beef (牛) on rice, in a bowl.
XX-don is considered relatively casual type of meal. If you want to grab something for lunch but you don’t have much time, a don would be perfect.
Let’s get back to Oyako-don.
Oyako in Japanese means “parent and child”. In this case, it’s chicken and egg! They do go perfectly together, but how cruel is that!
Typical Oyako-don consists of chicken, egg and onion.
Cooking Oyako-don is super easy:
1. Stir fry chicken and onion.
2. Add soy sauce, mirin and cooking sake. The most simple ratio is 1:1:1.
3. Crack and stir your egg. You should keep your egg white and york half-way mixed.
4. Add your egg to your pan. Move from heat and let residual heat do the cooking. Hanjuku (half-way cooked) is the best.
5. Put rice in your bowl first, and then your chicken and egg on top. Green leaf often seen on top of Oyako-don is mitsuba, if you want to go for it.
There’s also pork + egg combination, which is called Tanin-don. Tanin means stranger, it’s because pork and egg are not biologically related. Tanin-don is also nice, but Oyako-don is way more popular.
Where to find Oyako-don? Japanese restaurant (not too pricey ones) almost always have Oyako-don. Casual Japanese restaurant chain might be the best place to try. Look for “親子丼 (Oyako-don)”!
It’s not just sushi and wagyu beef that you should try when you are in Japan. Oyako-don is easy to cook and tastes delicious. Why not try it at home?
