Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Oyakodon
Chicken and softly-set egg simmered in sweet dashi soy, slid over hot rice, the tender "parent-and-child" bowl.
Japanese · easy · serves 2
prep 10 min · cook 12 min
~405 cal · 50g protein · 7g carbs · 19g fat · 1g fiber · 4g sugars · 6g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Oyakodon, 'parent-and-child bowl', is a Japanese home dish whose poignant name comes from its two main ingredients: chicken and egg, simmered together in a sweet-savory dashi-soy broth and slid over a bowl of hot rice. Quick and homey, it is everyday food at its best.
The dish belongs to the 'donburi' family of rice bowls, and its magic is in the softly-set egg, cooked just until barely custardy so it blankets the chicken and soaks into the rice. Dashi, mirin, soy, and onion make the simple, -rich sauce.
Sold at humble diners and made in homes across Tokyo and Japan, oyakodon is fast, cheap, and nostalgic.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 2
10 oz chicken thigh, bite pieces
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup dashi
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp sugar
2
2 bowls hot short-grain rice
Instructions
1
Simmer the dashi, soy, mirin, sugar, and onion in a small skillet 2 minutes.
2
Add the chicken (or tofu and shiitake) and simmer 5 minutes until just cooked.
3
Pour the beaten egg over in a swirl; do NOT stir. Cover 30-60 seconds until barely set, it should still wobble.
4
Slide the whole soft raft over a bowl of hot rice.
5
Scatter scallions and eat immediately, while the egg is silky.
Tokyo counter tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tokyo (Kanto). Tokyo is the world's densest food city, from Edo-style sushi and soba to izakaya small plates and more Michelin stars than anywhere. The Kanto region's refined, soy-forward cooking sets the national standard.
🗺️
Japan. Dashi does the quiet work in a Japanese kitchen. Kelp carries one savoury compound and dried, smoked skipjack carries another, and combining the two multiplies the effect well beyond either alone. The taste was named umami in 1908 by Ikeda Kikunae of Tokyo Imperial University, who went looking for it after eating tofu simmered with kelp.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Japan
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Sapporo Miso RamenSnow-country ramen: a rich miso broth with wok-seared vegetables, springy noodles, and butter melting on top.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Oyakodon?
Chicken and softly-set egg simmered in sweet dashi soy, slid over hot rice, the tender "parent-and-child" bowl.
Where does Oyakodon come from?
Oyakodon is a Japanese dish from Tokyo (Kanto), Japan.
Can Oyakodon be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Oyakodon recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Oyakodon safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Oyakodon take to make?
About 22 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 12 minutes cooking), serving 2.
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