丼 Donburi (Japanese rice bowls)

Donburi or Japanese rice bowls are one of my favorite quick comfort foods. It is a big bowl of rice topped with meat cooked in a salty-sweet savory broth. There are also donburi that include raw fish such as tekkadon (fresh tuna) and my personal favorite, negi-tori don (fresh fatty tuna with scallions). (Though I love to cook, I’d never make either of these two donburi at home. There are certain things that I will leave to the experts and raw fish/meat dishes are among those. )

Popular cooked donburi combinations include:

• 親子丼 – oyako don (literally parent/child rice bowl) – chicken & egg
• かつ丼 – katsudon – fried cutlet (usually pork)
• 牛丼 – gyuudon – beef bowl

Donburi is a quick meal for those days/nights that you want something filling and comforting with minimal effort. It is just a matter of stirfrying your ingredients, adding the sauce, simmering and then pouring over rice. I try to keep a supply of tare (the broth that the topping is cooked in) on hand in the freezer.

Donburi Sauce (Tare)

3 1/2 c. dashi (Japanese stock)
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
2 tbsp sugar

Mix to combine.

HINTS

• If making ahead, pour into ice cube trays, let freeze and then pop out cubes and put into plastic bags for later use.
• Use instant dashi (dashi no moto) to simplify the prep. It can be found in the Japanese food section of your local Asian market. Low sodium chicken broth can substitute.

Here’s a concotion that I call 何でもいい丼 or the “Whatever You’ve Got is Fine Bowl” because, literally, whatever you want to add into your donburi is your choice.

1. Prep your ingredients. I cut the veggies (bok choy and carrots) into little pieces. My beef was already in thin slices.
2. Heat a small pot over high heat and stir fry your veggies and protein.
3. Add broth (I use about 1/3 c. for one serving) and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Pour over rice. DONE!

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