A variation on oyakodon, this tanindon or donburi (rice bowl) recipe, tops the rice with salmon and green onion lightly poached in seasoned dashi stock. A raw egg yolk tops off the delectable combination.

Donburi variations

Oyakodon, which translates to “parent and child bowl”, is comfort food in Japan. The primary proteins are chicken (the parent) and egg (the child). A related version includes raw salmon and salmon eggs. When there is no family relationship between the ingredients, the dish is called tanindon, or “stranger bowl”. And that is what we have here – salmon paired with a chicken egg.

The rice

Donburi is the name for rice bowls that are larger than usual. Across Asia, rice is treated with considerable reverence. Use Japonica rice for this dish. This is a short-grain, slightly sticky style of rice, ideal for making sushi. You will sometimes find Japonica rice labelled as “sushi rice”.

Cooking rice perfectly takes practice. To avoid a failure or two, read this great guide on cooking rice the Japanese way.

Should you be avoiding the empty calories of white rice, try using brown rice or a multigrain mix in the donburi recipe. For example, this chazuke (“tea over rice”) dish took that approach.

The topping

The rice bowl is the canvas for your culinary art, the topping. The salmon in this “stranger bowl” is lightly poached in tsuyu, together with green onions and egg. Tsuyu is a combination of soy sauce, mirin, sake, and dashi. It provides seasoning and lots of flavours enhancing umami.

Topping off this mix is a raw egg yolk and a sprinkle of garlic chives. The egg yolk adds a decadent richness when stirred into the salmon topping and rice below.

One at a time

It is best to cook each serving of this salmon donburi in separate pans or one at a time. The pans should be about the same diameter as your rice bowls. That will allow you to easily slide the cooked topping out of the pan and on to the rice.

Tanindon – Salmon and egg rice bowl

Course: Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: egg, rice, salmon

Servings: people

Author: Steve Paris

A variation on oyakodon, this tanindon or donburi (rice bowl), tops the rice with salmon and green onion lightly poached in seasoned dashi stock. This, in turn, is topped with a raw egg yolk.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups Japanese sushi rice
3/4 cup dashi
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp sake
20 g butter
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup spring onions washed and diced
400 g salmon fillet skin removed
6 eggs
4 Tbsp garlic chives finely diced
4 egg yolks

Instructions

Cook the rice according to instructions on the packet or as per this guide.
Make the tsuyu by combining the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sake in a measuring cup.
Break the 6 eggs into another bowl and lightly whisk.
Dice the salmon fillets into bite-sized pieces.
Using a pan the same size as your rice bowls, add 5 g butter and 1/2 Tbsp oil and place over a medium-low heat.
Add some rice to a warmed rice bowl.
Add 1/4 cup of the spring onions and sauté for a few minutes.
Add 1/4 cup tsuyu to the pan and allow to come up to a simmer.
Add 1/4 of the diced salmon and cook for a few minutes until pink.
Add 1/4 of the whisked egg and stir into the tsuyu and salmon.
Cover and cook for 2 minutes or until the egg is just starting to set. Do not overcook the egg.
Immediately slide the egg, salmon and tsuyu mix out of the pan and on to a rice bowl.
Top with an egg yolk and a sprinkle of chives.

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