Oyakodon

Oyakodon

Oyakodon
Type	Donburi
Place of origin	Japan
Created by	Tamahide
Invented	1891
Main ingredients	Chicken, egg, and sliced scallion
Ingredients generally used	Soy sauce and stock
Variations	Tanindon
Media: Oyakodon

Oyakodon (親子おやこ丼どんぶり), 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. The name of the dish is a poetic reflection of both chicken and egg being used in the dish.

History

The origins of the dish are unknown. The earliest written mention of the terms "oyako" and "don" in combination is in a newspaper advertisement for a restaurant in Kobe in 1884. The advertisement mentions dishes named oyakojōdon, oyakonamidon and oyakochūdon, possibly referring to different sizes.

Variations

Several other Japanese dishes pun on the parent-and-child theme of oyakodon. Tanindon (他人たにん丼どんぶり), literally "stranger bowl", is otherwise identical but replaces the chicken with beef or pork. A dish of salmon and salmon roe served raw over rice is known as sake oyakodon (鮭さけ親子おやこ丼どんぶり) (salmon parent-child donburi).

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See also

• Gyūdon, beef on rice
• Katsudon, pork cutlets on rice
• Unadon, grilled eel kabayaki on rice
• "Mother and Child Reunion", a Paul Simon song that takes its title from a similar chicken and egg dish

References

• Tsuji, Shizuo (1980). Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art. New York: Kodansha International/USA. ISBN 0-87011-399-2.