Soboro Don

October 30, 2008 · View Comments

in Japanese Recipes

Japanese people have a thing for naming things for the vessel they come in (see nabe), and this is no exception. Donburi literally means “bowl”, but it typically refers to a bowl of rice topped with something. Japanese people also like abbreviating things, so donburi becomes “don” in common parlance.

This is the ultimate weeknight meal as it takes almost no time to make. It’s also fantastic in bento boxes for lunch. I usually make a batch of onsen tamago (slow cooked egg) over a weekend as it takes a bit of time to make, if you haven’t make any ahead of time, this also great topped with a sunny side up egg, or scrambled egg, or even no egg at all.

The chicken is quickly cooked in a sweet soy sauce (think teriyaki sauce), and sandwiches a thin layer of green onions over rice. The onsen tamago, permeates the entire dish with a custardy creaminess that you just can’t beaten.

You could do a lot with this basic recipe too. Try using beef or pork, or even crumbled firm tofu. You could also add veggies. For seasoning, it’s great with a little sesame oil, garlic, or if you want to give it a little kick, add some gochujang (Korean hot sauce).

1/2 lbs ground chicken
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp sugar
2tbs mirin
1tbs soysauce
freshly cooked rice
1 green onion thinly sliced
2 onsen tamago
Shichimi pepper powder (optional for garnish)

Put a bit of oil in a pan over medium heat and add the ginger. Saute until it’s fragrant then add the chicken, using a spatula to break it up into little crumbles until it is no longer pink.

Add the sugar and mirin and stir to coat the chicken bits. Add the soy sauce and cook until the liquid is mostly evaporated (careful not to dry the chicken out).

Put your hot rice in a bowl and top with a layer of green onions, then cover with the cooked chicken. Top with an onsen tamago and garnish with some Shichimi pepper powder.

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    • DLo
      Instead of onsen egg on top. you can also scramble an egg, but finely chop it to make it uniform with the ground chicken. make one side ground chicken and other side egg.
    • That soboro don looks good with the fried egg on it. I like hte sound of adding some gochujang!
    • what do you mean "or with no egga at all"?
      not on my plate
      i want my egg

      looks like it tasted GREAT
    • It looks good, and a little hot sauce would make it perfect for me. Anything topped with an egg gets my attention; burger, curly endive, soup, corned beef, you name it.
    • WOW - now this is looking good!

      -DTW
      www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com
    • jen
      my aunt made something similar to this before, but the egg was raw. is that a different recipe?
    • lk
      Simple, healthy & delicious! Great shots and nice blog!
    • Beautiful. Do you just use what's on hand? How would ground pork or pork butt work?
    • just dropping in to say hi and wow I love your photos! and this donburi recipe sounds so tasty - I love Japanese recipes.
    • Oh, yes, gochujang all the way.
    • Ah, I vote for mine with some gochujang, of course :) Looks really good, Marc :)
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