Japanese Rice or Noodle Bowl

Here is an absolutely fantastic and versatile dish that can be assembled in as little as 15 minutes. It is Japanese comfort food, adapted from an Eating Well recipe. I have made it both with meat and vegetarian, both are great.

Japanese Chicken Scallion Rice Bowl

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups any rice, preferably short-grain japanese –OR–

4 oz. per serving of udon or soba noodles (I prefer udon)

2 onions, thinly sliced (not diced)

2-3 cups any broth (depending on how soupy you like it)

1 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin or sake

2 eggs, beaten

1 bunch chard or spinach, chopped (optional)

8 oz. chicken, turkey, pork, beef or anything else you want to put in this cut into 1/2 inch chunks (optional)

1 bunch of scallions, thinly sliced

3 or 4 inari wrappers per serving (optional)

Directions:

If you are making it with rice, cook the rice according to the package directions first so it will be ready when everything else is done. Cut everything up so it is ready to go. This dish assembles very quickly. Heat a large saucepan or soup pot over medium high heat. Coat the bottom with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally until beginning to brown.

Next, dump in your broth, sugar, soy sauce and mirin or sake. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium low.

If you are making the soup with noodles, dump them straight into the broth and cook them until a bit underdone. I really like doing this with the semi fresh, refrigerated udon noodles that you can get at Japanese markets.

Now, dump in your meat and chard or spinach if you are using them. Cover the pot and let it hang, unattended for about 1 minute. If you cut the meat into 1/2 inch pieces, it should only take about 3 minutes to cook. If you kept them larger, it will take a bit longer.

After the meat has been there for about 2 minutes, remove the cover, stir and gently por in the eggs. You want to try and keep the eggs kind of floating on top of everything. Dump in the scallions on top and cover the pot. Let it sit unattended for about 2 or 3 minutes.

When the egg is set, run a chopstick or knife through the egg a few times to break it up and you’re ready to eat. Spoon some rice into the bottom of a bowl, top with the brothy goodness and enjoy. If you are using inari wrappers, just place a few on top of your dish. The bowl will be rocket hot, and heat the inari up very quickly. There’s no need to add it to the broth.

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