Recipe

Oyakodon: Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl

Make oyakodon with chicken, onion and egg simmered in a sweet-savory dashi sauce over Japanese rice. Includes clear timing and egg-doneness guidance.

Oyakodon: Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl
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Ingredients

  • 300 g boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2 cm pieces
  • 100 g onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 large eggs
  • 120 ml unsalted dashi, prepared according to its packet or recipe
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Japanese soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) hon mirin
  • 1 teaspoon (4 g) sugar
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) sake
  • 400 g hot cooked Japanese short-grain rice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped mitsuba or sliced scallion

Instructions

  1. Have the cooked rice ready before beginning; the listed time assumes cooked rice. Combine dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar. Break the eggs into a separate bowl and stir lightly without whipping them foamy.
  2. Arrange onion in a 20–22 cm skillet. Pour in the dashi mixture and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Cook for 3 minutes.
  3. Add chicken in one layer. Simmer gently for 6–8 minutes, turning the pieces once. Check several thick pieces with a thermometer: chicken must reach 165°F / 74°C. Extend cooking if needed.
  4. Pour two-thirds of the egg over the chicken. Reduce the heat and cook for about 1 minute, until it starts to set around the pieces. Avoid vigorous stirring.
  5. Add the remaining egg and the mitsuba or scallion. Cover briefly and continue until the egg is fully set and the egg mixture reaches 160°F / 71°C. This gives a firmer finish than a soft-egg restaurant version.
  6. Divide hot rice between two bowls. Spoon the chicken and egg over it and add the pan sauce to taste. Serve promptly.

Oyakodon brings chicken and egg together over rice. The sauce should season the rice without turning the bowl into soup. This home-kitchen version uses a small skillet and fully sets the eggs; customary versions may leave them softer.

Dashi matters

Dashi supplies a flavor that plain water or chicken broth does not reproduce. Bonito-based dashi contains fish; check instant products for salt and other allergens.

Cooking for four

Use two skillets or cook in two batches. A deep, crowded pan changes the timing and makes it harder to set the egg evenly.

Alcohol and substitutions

Mirin and sake contain alcohol, and short cooking does not guarantee its complete removal. An alcohol-free replacement changes the flavor and should be described as an adaptation.

Questions before cooking

Can I use chicken breast?

Yes, but it dries out more readily. Cut evenly and check temperature rather than extending cooking by guesswork.

Can I make it ahead?

Prepare the onion and sauce ahead and refrigerate separately from raw chicken. Cook the egg and assemble the bowls just before serving.

Recipe and nutrition notes

This documented traditional-style preparation has not been kitchen-tested by Carolina Cooking. Nutrition is an approximate editorial estimate per stated serving, not an independently verified nutrient calculation. Ingredient brands, portions and cooking losses change the values.

Includes 200 g cooked rice per bowl and all sauce. Soy sauce and dashi brands strongly affect sodium.

Allergens: Egg; Soy; Wheat in ordinary soy sauce; Fish in bonito dashi. Check packaged ingredient labels.

Traditional preparation reference: maff.go.jp. Instructions and explanatory text are written for Carolina Cooking; the reference is not an endorsement.

Representative stock photograph; presentation can vary. This is not a photograph of a Carolina Cooking test cook.

Per serving

Nutrition facts

Serving size: 1/2 of the stated recipe (estimated)

Calories
650
Total fat
19 g
Saturated fat
5 g
Cholesterol
360 mg
Sodium
1650 mg
Total carbohydrate
76 g
Dietary fiber
2 g
Total sugars
10 g
Protein
40 g

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