Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (2024)

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Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (1)

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Oyakodon is chicken and egg in seasoned broth over rice in a bowl. Oyako means parents and children, like chicken and egg, and don (donburi) means a bowl. It’s a whole meal in one bowl. It is a healthy dish since everything is boiled with no added oil. Besides being healthy, it is very quick to make and, of course, yummy! Rice absorbs flavorful dashi along with fluffy eggs — it is just delicious!

It is a very typical lunch dish you can get at casual restaurants. Udon noodle shops in Japan often have Oyakodon on their menu probably because they already have very good Dashi (fish broth) for noodles. If you have good broth, your job is half way done anyway. But because we are outside Japan, it is hard to find udon noodle shops and good Oyakodon. Luckily, it is easy to make at home with ingredients that are easy to find anywhere.

If your white rice is covered with meat and things or soaked with some brown sauce, it is usually not a high class dish. And Oyakodon is definitely categorized in B class gourmet. It doesn’t matter though, because it still tastes great.

Our recipe below is for one person because it is easier to make individually, but you can multiply and make a bunch at once in a bigger pan when you serve for your entire family.

Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (2)

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Oyakodon Recipe

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Servings: 1 serving

*Links may contain ad. #CommissionsEarned

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup 60ml Dashi
  • 1/2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 Tbsp Sake
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 Tbsp Mirin
  • 1/4 onion thinly sliced
  • 1 chicken thigh cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 green onion thinly sliced
  • steamed rice

Instructions

  • Add Dashi, sugar, Sake, soy sauce and Mirin in a pan. Heat until boiling.

  • Add onion and cook for a minute at medium heat.

  • Add chicken pieces to the pan and cook until the meat is cooked through.

  • Beat egg in a small bowl and pour over the chicken and onion. Cover and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

  • Slide egg and chicken with sauce over rice in a bowl. Sprinkle with green onion.

ChickenDonburiEggRice

August 26, 2012 By JapaneseCooking101

Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (3)

About JapaneseCooking101

Noriko and Yuko, the authors of this site, are both from Japan but now live in California. They love cooking and eating great food, and share a similar passion for home cooking using fresh ingredients.Noriko and Yuko plan and develop recipes together for Japanese Cooking 101. They cook and shoot photos/videos at their home kitchen(s.)

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  • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (7)

    mika

    October 6, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    I just made Oyakodon for the first time using this recipe! おいしかったですね!!(^_^)ありがとうございます!i am very happy that i succeeded on my first try. i will make this again soon for my family!

  • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (9)

    Roxy

    October 16, 2013 at 10:44 pm

    I am very excited to do my grocery shopping this week because of your site. I found your instructions easy to understand and not intimidating to try. Thanks! ^_^/

    • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (10)

      Noriko

      October 17, 2013 at 3:57 pm

      Roxy,
      thanks! Hope you like our recipes!

  • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (11)

    Amin Bilal

    January 11, 2014 at 5:55 am

    Lovely site. I spent a lot of time in Japan 20 years ago and I rarely find the same food in London unless you go to a very very expensive restaurant. We will try some of these recipes at home. One special request: Japanese food is famous for being very healthy. Please make a section on healthy options.

    • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (12)

      Noriko

      January 12, 2014 at 8:48 pm

      Amin,
      Thanks for the comment! Hope you like our recipes!

  • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (13)

    Jenna

    July 22, 2014 at 10:22 am

    Just tried making oyakodon last night using this recipe. My husband and son love it. Thank you for ur easy to follow recipe. Do you mind to recommended some other easy to cook food like this?

    • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (14)

      Noriko

      September 13, 2014 at 5:17 pm

      Jenna,
      very similar one is salmon and egg Donburi. Gyudon is also a easy rice bowl recipe with beef.

  • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (15)

    Ann

    August 11, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    Hi,

    This recipe looks delicious! I just wanted to ask if there’s anything I can use in place of the sake. I go to college in a small town in Minnesota and there’s no way for me to get my hands on any cooking sake since there are no Asian grocers anywhere near my area. I can find mirin online but I can’t seem to find cooking sake. Is there something I can use as a substitute? Thanks!

  • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (16)

    Panjita

    September 18, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    I made this one last night… The recipe is very simple and the outcome has an authentic taste…. I ommit the dashi and sake (cause I dont have it), then I add some salt to the chicken… The result is stunning… Everybody love it… Thank you so muucchh…. 🙂

    • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (17)

      Noriko

      September 19, 2014 at 11:46 am

      Panjita,
      glad you liked our Oyakodon Recipe. Check out our new Katsudon recipe too!

  • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (18)

    Stacie Nakagawa

    January 15, 2016 at 8:49 pm

    What would be a good substitute for the dashi? Would chicken broth or water work?

    • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (19)

      Noriko

      January 18, 2016 at 10:47 pm

      Stacie,
      it may be less flavorful, but water is ok.

    • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (20)

      orinoco womble

      April 8, 2016 at 4:00 am

      I have a different recipe for this dish, that has you simmer 3 dried shiitake mushrooms in a cup of water and use the liquid, in place of dashi stock. If you can’t get bonito flakes to make dashi, it’s a viable substitute.

      I sometimes make “cheater dashi” using water I’ve simmered for an hour with a piece of kombu kelp, and a fresh salmon head from my fishmonger. After the hour-long simmer I take out the kelp and add the salmon head, and simmer till done. Strain the broth and portion it for freezing. It’s not the same, of course, but I can’t afford bonito flakes all the time; where I live, they are enormously expensive!

      • Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (21)

        Lenny

        September 8, 2016 at 7:58 pm

        Can you stop substituting things???

    Oyakodon Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (2024)

    FAQs

    What are the different types of oyakodon? ›

    There's another type of oyakodon too — if you put salmon and salmon roe (eggs) together, you get a seafood version called "kaisen oyakodon." There's also "kaikadon," where a different meat is mixed with egg — this is also called "tanindon" from the word "tanin," which means strangers.

    What is oyakodon in Japanese? ›

    Oyakodon (親子丼), literally "parent-and-child donburi", is a donburi, or Japanese rice bowl dish, in which chicken, egg, sliced scallion (or sometimes regular onions), and other ingredients are all simmered together in a kind of soup that is made with soy sauce and stock, and then served on top of a large bowl of rice.

    What does Oyako mean in food? ›

    Originated from Oyakodon (親子丼) in Japan, Oyako. means “parent-and-child,” chicken as the parent & egg. as the child. Oyakodon is not only a long- time favorite. at restaurants but also a favorite to make at Japanese.

    When was oyakodon created? ›

    History/origin/related events

    The customer named the dish "oyako-ni" (parent and child stew). Later, in 1891, Toku-san, the wife of Hideyoshi V of Tamahide, turned this oyako-ni into a one-dish meal served on rice, which is said to be the original oyakodon.

    Can you make oyakodon without dashi? ›

    Homemade dashi is nice, but not necessary for this simple dish, which has so many other strong flavors.

    What is the difference between oyakodon and donburi? ›

    Donburi is simply the name for a rice-bowl meal. There are so many different types available in Japan, from the inexpensive gyudon (beef slices on rice) or oyakodon (a rice bowl topped with chicken cutlet and egg) to the more extravagant ones such as kaisendon (topped with fresh seafood).

    What is the difference between Oyakodon and Katsudon? ›

    A variation made with chicken katsu and egg is called oyako katsudon, which is distinguished from oyakodon where the meat in the latter is not fried.

    What does Oyako mean in Japanese? ›

    Oyako means parent and child in Japanese and was originally the name I gave to a photo series I have now been working on since 1982.

    What does Roti mean in Japanese? ›

    ロティ ROTEI. noun: roti (flatbread)

    What is eat sperm in Japanese? ›

    Shirako is the milt, or sperm sacs, of male cod. It's served in both raw and cooked form in restaurants all over Japan, but many Japanese consider it an acquired taste. The word “shirako” means “white children,” and it is in season in the winter.

    What does eating red rice mean in Japan? ›

    The red color of the rice symbolizes happiness and prosperity. It's a traditional dish served on many happy and celebratory occasions, such as New Year, the birth of baby, birthdays, festivals, and weddings. Traditionally Sekihan is made of 100% glutinous rice (you might also call it sweet rice or mochigome).

    What does Tsukune mean in Japanese? ›

    Tsukune (つくね、捏、捏ね) is a Japanese chicken meatball most often cooked yakitori style (but also can be fried, baked, or boiled) and sometimes covered in a sweet soy or yakitori tare, which is often mistaken for teriyaki sauce.

    What is the oldest oyakodon restaurant in Tokyo? ›

    Tamahide in Ningyocho was established in 1760, and is not only old, but also the birth place of a common Japanese dish called Oyakodon. It was introduced here in 1887 and it is still one of the best places to eat it in Japan. The current characteristic white restaurant building was built in 1883.

    Why is oyakodon called oyakodon? ›

    “Oya” means parent, “ko” means child and “don” is short for donburi which is a rice bowl. The name of the dish is a poetic reflection of the fact that chicken and egg are served over rice. (Chicken is the parent and the egg is the child.) The dish was first made at the Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo in 1891.

    Who invented Japanese omelette? ›

    The true origins of omurice are unclear, but it allegedly made its debut in the year 1900 (the 33rd year of the Meiji Era) at a famous Western-style restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo, called Renga-tei. The idea was to make a dish that could be easily eaten with one hand while working in a busy kitchen.

    Are there different types of onigiri? ›

    Onigiri Variations

    We also enjoy onigiri in these popular variations: Onigirazu (Rice Sandwich) Yaki Onigiri (Grilled Rice Balls)

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