I have been wanting to make this as a lunch for awhile, and I did a test run last weekend that turned out pretty good. A Japanese donburi as I understand it, is a rice bowl with different sorts of toppings.
Because of the size of the containers in the Mr. Bento I decided to separate the rice from the toppings, this allowed me to make the rice look more attractive than just throwing it into a container. For toppings I decided to use a salmon crumble, egg crumble and steamed spinach.
Salmon Crumble
12 oz Salmon filet
3 oz Dashi soup stock
2 tbsp Shoyu (soy sauce)
2 tbsp Mirin
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Vegetable oilMicrowave the salmon for 1 min on high so you can separate the flesh from the skin easily, place the flesh in a bowl and put aside.
Mix the dashi, shoyu, mirin and sugar in a bowl and put aside.
Choose a pot the will allow you to spread the crumbled fish out in a thin layer along the bottom. Place on the stove above medium heat and add the oil.
After the oil heats up, swirl to coat the bottom of the pot and add the salmon. Using a metal fork or wooden spoon break the fish into small pieces, similar to breaking up a can of tuna. Then add the bowl containing dashi, mirin, shoyu and sugar. Simmer until most of the liquid is gone. then remove from heat.
Egg Crumble
4 Eggs
2 tbsp Dashi soup stock (room temperature)
1 tsp Shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tbsp Mirin
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Vegetable oilMix the dashi, shoyu, mirin and sugar in a bowl. Add the eggs and scramble until mixed.
Add oil to a fry pan. After the oil heats up, swirl to coat the bottom of the pot and add the egg mixture. As the eggs cook, chop up with a wooden spoon. When the eggs are cooked remove from heat.
This is what it looked like when I made it the other night. My wife Meg thought the eggs tasted a little weird sweet so when I made this for her lunch today I left out the sugar, I’ll let you know what she thought.
I also think it looks a lot better with the spinach than with the edamame. Though I saw a recipe the other day that had chicken, egg and snow peas, I think that may be the next donburi I’ll try.
