 |
After publishing over 50 recipes on TB, you’d think that as a breakfast lover, I’d have a bundle of breakfast recipes, but I don’t. Breakfast should be on the no-fuss side of things, especially when you’re on the go in the morning, but I think you weekend breakfasters will appreciate this dish. Many of you may be familiar with donburi, a Japanese rice bowl dish topped with meat of your choice. Oyakodon is a type of donburi in that it is characterized by its usage of egg, making it perfect for breakfast or brunch. My Tofu Oyakodon recipe is a medium fuss breakfast/brunch recipe, perfect for kitchen beginners. It’s easy, efficient, cheap, & delicious that it works as a great base recipe. Since you have to bake the tofu & you’ve got some dishes to wash, it’s kind of a medium fuss type of meal, but well worth it, I promise! Modify it to your own personal preferences because if you’ve never eaten oyakodon before, it’ll change your breakfast game. So what else is the fuss with this recipe? Chopping up onions & mixing an egg. You can handle that, right? Right? No one needs a doctorate to chop up some onions, so be more proactive & less lazy, GET CHOPPIN’!
Tofu Oyakodon
If you love eggs as much as I do, grab this recipe. So the next time you go to a Japanese restaurant, you’ll know the difference between donburi & oyakodon. If you’re wondering what a “sake don” or a “katsudon” is, it should all make sense now that we’ve defined donburi. “Sake” is Japanese for salmon & “don” is donburi shortened. Katsu refers to deep fried pork cutlets, often served with egg, & a tangy yet sweet sauce. Add it over a bowl of rice & you’ve got katsudon. My recipe calls for sake, but I mean the Japanese alcoholic beverage, not salmon. Not trying to trick anyone here!
In hindsight, I should’ve made a katsu recipe since “katsu” is a Japanese homophone of a verb that means “to win.” My title would’ve been the ultimate pun. Whatever, you’re still winning if you’re enjoying a bowl of oyakodon. Baked tofu is healthier than deep fried tofu anyway.
What are some of your favorite Japanese rice dishes? What is your favorite rice dish of all time? Also, for the sake of contrast, what’s your least favorite rice dish of all time? Have a great weekend, everyone! Couldn’t have timed this post better, hah!
Oyakodon = delicious
Any meal that takes loads of things to wash must be worth the effort! I like how all of your meals are healthy, healthy, healthy! (And proof that you don’t need meat for your tastebuds to enjoy).
When I saw “sake” being mentioned as salmon, I somehow thought the alcoholic drink was made of fermented salmon or something (… logic?) instead of fermented rice. Apparently both names can be referred to sake or salmon. I don’t mind calling sake either!
Fave Japanese rice dishes….. I’m always up for ikura oyakodon. :D. As for least favorite rice dish, probably any meat that is cooked in a lot of sauce is served with rice. I don’t know the specific name of it but my mom is a fan of making that from time to time *o*.
Meals with long prep times are a pain in the butt, but they’re often worth it in the end. At least I think so, especially when you’ve got leftovers for daayyyzz. If you have a dishwasher, this meal shouldn’t be a big deal to clean up after. I unfortunately don’t, but that’s okay. I hate washing dishes, but it also is a bit soothing when I start doing it. It is very strange. I don’t understand my relationship with dish washing.
I’m surprised you didn’t know that “sake” referred to salmon since you’ve eaten sake dons a few times before. They’re pronounced differently even though they’re spelled the same. You know, just like lead & lead, read & read, etc.
Your favorite Japanese donburi is also mine, but add some uni on it & that’s definitely my favorite. What kind of sauce is this meat cooked in that you don’t like? Is it too sour, sweet, salty, bitter, etc?
I’m with Nancy on this one. I immediately thought of the alcoholic drink when I read “sake,” and wondered how that’s related to everything you wrote up to that point. Confession time: although I lived in Japan for 5 years, I never heard of oyakodon nor any rice dish variety. I may have tried them, but I was too young to bother with names. Seems like I have a lot of catching up to do. xD
My oyakdon recipe does have sake in the recipe though, but not salmon. I wanted to make that clear that when I said sake, I meant the alcoholic beverage & not salmon. Trust me, sometimes a recipe that seems pretty straight forward can be confusing to others.
How young were you when you lived in Japan? You didn’t have katsudon or any curry dishes there? No consumption of any Japanese rice bowl meals in your adult life either?
Aah that looks so good and looks like it’d make a great breakfast. It’s too bad many of us don’t have time in the morning to make hearty breakfasts. Sometimes we make breakfast food for dinner to satisfy that craving, haha.
I don’t think I’ve ever had oyakodon, but my favorite Japanese rice dish is probably katsudon 🙂 We plan on making some katsu at home soon! It’s hard to choose an overall favorite though. I think I’d put katsudon, dolsot bibimbap, and salted fish fried rice are at the top of my list. As for least favorite… I’m not sure! I can’t remember having a really bad rice dish!
Thanks! It’s certainly a weekend breakfast meal, but you could always prepare some of the items ahead of time to quickly make yourself a nice breakfast. Or you could do the extra painful thing & wake up really early. I confess that I wake up early to put my face on & look nice before I’d wake up early to make a meal for myself. My priorities … are backwards, you see….
I’ve seen salted fish fried rice a few times at the Chinese restaurants I frequented back home, but I never got around to ordering them. It’s on my list! You’ve got some good favorites up there!
Oyakodon is one of my favourite things to eat when I’m at a Japanese restaurant! I still have to get sake and mirin but I’ve been trying to find a healthy way to make it for years. I actually also really like not only baking tofu, but pan-frying it with coconut oil over low to medium heat. It takes a lot longer, but it’s well worth it, and frying it with coconut oil means that it has good crust/skin on the tofu even when it’s cold. I might use this recipe to convince my boyfriend to help cook it with me for dinner 🙂
It’s not the healthiest Japanese recipe, but it’s great for breakfast. If you want to make it healthier, omit the mirin & sake, just stick with soy sauce & maybe some stevia or agave syrup. Coconut oil is best utilized over medium high heat though, it’s got to do with its melting point & molecular structure. Turn up the heat & it should be done a lot quicker. Let me know if you decide to use the recipe! I’d love to see how yours turns out. 😀
I squealed and laughed so hard when I saw this post because I ate some chicken oyakodon in Kyoto! The coincidence was just too funny and amazing at the same time. That was my first time trying oyakodon and I liked it! I cannot compare what I ate to anything else, but I do think I prefer katsudon over it XD But oh, man, I just came back from Japan and I want to go back! Thanks for the oyakodon recipe. If I ever crave it, I have a place to come back to and try my own!
I think I might’ve seen your post on Instagram! Haha. 🙂 I love egg dishes, so one of my favorite donburi recipes (before I became a pescetarian) was katsudon + egg. I loved the crispiness + the combo of the egg. Hope you had a nice trip in Kyoto! Let me know if you end up trying the recipe, I’d love to see your results.
This recipes comes at the right time, I’m running out of breakfast ideas! Also I have some tofu in the kitchen that’s been waiting for too long 🙂
It’s a pretty hearty/heavy breakfast option, so I hope you enjoy big breakfasts over petite ones!