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So I made dinner tonight. In an effort to contribute more to my family in a way that we'll all enjoy, I've decided to start cooking dinner for them every Friday night. Today I made one of my standards, Oyako Donburi, a Japanese rice dish made with chicken and eggs. Oyako means "parent-and-child" and refers to the chicken and eggs in the dish. It can be made with beef instead, though I've never really done that. I have to substitute chicken broth for the dashi, since my family doesn't really like the taste of it, and I also use a combination of rice wine vinegar, apple juice and sugar for the mirin, since we don't have any alcohol in our house (religious reasons). Usually I make it with carrots and broccoli, but last time I noticed that most of them were picking out the carrots. So I decided to make it with red peppers and snow peas this time, so there was still color contrast, and the peppers are about as sweet as the carrots.
So it's a modification of the recipe from Gaku Homma's Japanese Country Cooking. I really like that cookbook, because the recipes are fairly simple and rustic, and it's full of cultural notes about food in Japan.
Oyako don - Rice bowl with chicken and egg topping
A. Skin and debone 3/4 lb chicken and cut into bite-size pieces. Peel 1/2 lb onion, halve, and slice thin. Peel 1/2 cup carrots and sliver with a grater. Choose a small amount of any green vegetable, such as broccoli, zucchini, snow peas or green beans for color balance. Cut into bite-size pieces.
B. In a 10- to 12-inch flat-bottomed ckillet combine 3/4 cup dashijiru 4 Tbsp. mirin, 4 Tbsp shoyu and heat over high heat until just before boiling. Add chicken and cook until aku rises. Remove aku. Add onions and continue to cook.
When chicken is done, reduce heat to low and pour in 4 beaten eggs. Sprinkle with carrots and green vegetables and cover. When the egg is half cooked, turn off heat and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
C. In 4 donburi bowls, add 1 serving of rice to each. Divide the topping into 4 sections and place one portion on each rice bowl. Garnish with chopped nori.
I serve it one large glass bowl, because dishing it up individually for 7 people takes too long, and it's easier to let people take as much as they want. I also double the recipe. Usually I use about 5 or 6 chicken breasts, but this time I only used 4, because that's the amount the packages held (and 8 would be way too much). Four seemed just fine, so I'll probably stick to that from now on (the less meat the better, in my opinion). I also don't garnish with nori, since nobody but me likes it. And I don't bother with skimming the aku (aku is the scum that rises when you boil chicken) because I don't think it affects the flavor or appearance that much with this dish. I tried doing it once and it was just too much hassle. This time I used red onions, and it turned out very colorful with the green snow peas, red peppers and purple onion. I was also much more careful not to overcook the egg (which I did last time). The consensus was that it was much better.
While I cooked, I watched the Food Network, and in one of the shows they had a seafood boil. Fun! I really want to do that sometime this summer, so if anyone is interested in coming to El Granada for a seafood boil, let me know! We can go to the beach (walking distance from my house), or play games (I have lots of games) or watch a movie or anime or something. I'll gladly throw some steaks or hot dogs or something on the BBQ for those who don't like seafood.
I love to cook for the people I care about, and I don't get enough opportunities to do so.
So it's a modification of the recipe from Gaku Homma's Japanese Country Cooking. I really like that cookbook, because the recipes are fairly simple and rustic, and it's full of cultural notes about food in Japan.
Oyako don - Rice bowl with chicken and egg topping
A. Skin and debone 3/4 lb chicken and cut into bite-size pieces. Peel 1/2 lb onion, halve, and slice thin. Peel 1/2 cup carrots and sliver with a grater. Choose a small amount of any green vegetable, such as broccoli, zucchini, snow peas or green beans for color balance. Cut into bite-size pieces.
B. In a 10- to 12-inch flat-bottomed ckillet combine 3/4 cup dashijiru 4 Tbsp. mirin, 4 Tbsp shoyu and heat over high heat until just before boiling. Add chicken and cook until aku rises. Remove aku. Add onions and continue to cook.
When chicken is done, reduce heat to low and pour in 4 beaten eggs. Sprinkle with carrots and green vegetables and cover. When the egg is half cooked, turn off heat and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
C. In 4 donburi bowls, add 1 serving of rice to each. Divide the topping into 4 sections and place one portion on each rice bowl. Garnish with chopped nori.
I serve it one large glass bowl, because dishing it up individually for 7 people takes too long, and it's easier to let people take as much as they want. I also double the recipe. Usually I use about 5 or 6 chicken breasts, but this time I only used 4, because that's the amount the packages held (and 8 would be way too much). Four seemed just fine, so I'll probably stick to that from now on (the less meat the better, in my opinion). I also don't garnish with nori, since nobody but me likes it. And I don't bother with skimming the aku (aku is the scum that rises when you boil chicken) because I don't think it affects the flavor or appearance that much with this dish. I tried doing it once and it was just too much hassle. This time I used red onions, and it turned out very colorful with the green snow peas, red peppers and purple onion. I was also much more careful not to overcook the egg (which I did last time). The consensus was that it was much better.
While I cooked, I watched the Food Network, and in one of the shows they had a seafood boil. Fun! I really want to do that sometime this summer, so if anyone is interested in coming to El Granada for a seafood boil, let me know! We can go to the beach (walking distance from my house), or play games (I have lots of games) or watch a movie or anime or something. I'll gladly throw some steaks or hot dogs or something on the BBQ for those who don't like seafood.
I love to cook for the people I care about, and I don't get enough opportunities to do so.
