Gooey Eggy Chicken Oyakodon

When it’s cold outside, I love curling up on the sofa with a bowl of something hot and comforting.  Chicken oyakodon is on my top list of comfort foods, not only because of its divine flavours of gooey, eggy-coated tender morsels of chicken over steaming rice, but also because it’s one of those meals that you can cuddle up and eat with a spoon.  It really requires no other eating utensils and is highly portable.  

It’s the perfect meal to eat under a blanket while watching a good movie.

What you’ll need (serves 2);

• 4 eggs
• approx 6 chicken fillets / tenders
• 1 small onion
• 1/2 cup of dashi 
• 2 tbls light soy
• 1/2 tbls sugar
• 1 tbls mirin
• Diced green onion (for garnish)

Cook the rice, or reheat already-made rice.

Slice onions into slivers and dice green onion.

I know the traditional recipe calls for chicken thigh meat, but I prefer using chicken tenders, because they are so soft and a lot easier to slice (no deboning or skinning needed here!).  It’s also a lot healthier than dark meat, which is an added bonus of an excuse for a lazy person (aka me!). 

Dashi is the traditional flavour base for many Japanese broths (including miso soup) and is made from stewing seaweed in water (sometimes it also includes fish stock).  To save time, I use a tsp of instant dashi and mix it with 1/2 cup of water.  You can find instant dashi in most supermarkets – I found this packet in CitySuper Hong Kong.

In a shallow pan, mix together dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar.  Then, layer the sliced onion in the pan, put a lid on and cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, slightly whisk together 4 eggs.  You want to keep the eggs fairly separate to get the fluffiest texture.

By now, the onion should have come to a boil.  Add the cubed chicken tenders to the pan, and cover with a lid.  Let that simmer for around 3 minutes.  Then flip the chicken over and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Scoop some rice into each bowl.

Pour 2/3 of the egg into the pan, stir lightly, cover and cook for 10 seconds.  

Add the rest of the egg mixture and sprinkle with green onion.  Put the lid back on and turn of the heat.  Allow the residual heat to slightly cook the eggs for another 15-20 seconds.  

Layer the hot blanket of eggy chicken over rice and enjoy!

Bon Appetit!