is a Japanese "rice-bowl dish" consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients

simmered Simmering is a food preparation technique by which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (lower than ) and above poaching temperature (higher than ). To create a steady simmer, a liquid is brought to a boil, ...

together and served over rice. ''Donburi'' meals are usually served in oversized rice

bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve ...

s which are also called ''donburi''. If one needs to distinguish, the bowl is called and the food is called . The simmering sauce varies according to season, ingredients, region, and taste. A typical sauce might consist of ''

dashi is a family of stocks used in Japanese cuisine. ''Dashi'' forms the base for miso soup, clear broth soup, noodle broth soup, and many simmering liquids to accentuate the savory flavor known as umami. ''Dashi'' is also mixed into the flour b ...

'' (stock broth) flavored with

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

and ''

mirin is a type of rice wine and a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine, Japanese cooking. It is similar to sake but with a lower alcohol (drug), alcohol content and higher sugar content. The sugar content is a complex carbohydrate that forms natur ...

'' (rice wine). Proportions vary, but there is normally three to four times as much ''dashi'' as soy sauce and ''mirin''. For ''

oyakodon , literally "parent-and-child donburi", is a ''donburi'', or Japanese rice bowl dish, in which chicken, egg, sliced scallion (or sometimes regular onions), and other ingredients are all simmered together in a kind of soup that is made with soy sa ...

'', Tsuji (1980) recommends dashi flavored with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar. For ''

gyūdon , also known as , is a Cuisine of Japan, Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion, simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with ''dashi'' (Bonito, fish and Kelp, seaweed stock), soy sauce and ''mirin'' (sweet rice ...

'', Tsuji recommends water flavored with dark soy sauce and ''mirin''. Donburi can be made from almost any ingredients, including leftovers.

Varieties of donburi

Traditional Japanese ''donburi'' include the following:

''Gyūdon''

, is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with ''dashi'' (fish and seaweed stock), soy sauce and ''mirin'' (sweet rice wine). It also often includes

shirataki noodles Shirataki (, often written with the ''hiragana'' ) are translucent, gelatinous Japanese noodles made from the corm of the konjac plant. In traditional Japanese cuisine, they are eaten in soups or stir-fried. The texture is chewy, similar to a to ...

, and is sometimes topped with a raw egg or a soft poached egg (''

onsen tamago ''Onsen tamago'' ( or , lit. 'hot spring egg') is a traditional Japanese low temperature boiled egg which is slow cooked in the hot waters of ''onsen'' in Japan. The egg has a unique texture in that the white tastes like a delicate custard (mil ...

'').

''Butadon''

''Buta'' means pork. is a dish made with pork instead of beef in a mildly sweet sauce. ''Butadon'' originated in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

but is now enjoyed all over Japan.

''Tendon''

' consists of ''

tempura is a typical Japanese dish that usually consists of seafood and vegetables that have been coated in a thin batter and deep-fried. Tempura originated in the 16th century, when Portuguese Jesuits brought the Western-style cooking method of ...

'' on a bowl of rice. The name "tendon" is an abbreviation of and .

''Tentamadon''

consists of tempura which is simmered with beaten egg and topped on rice.

''Unadon''

is a dish originating in Japan. It consists of a ''donburi'' type large bowl filled with steamed white rice, and topped with fillets of eel (unagi) grilled in a style known as kabayaki, similar to teriyaki. The fillets are glazed with a sweetened soy-based sauce, called ''tare'' and caramelized, preferably over charcoal fire. The fillets are not flayed, and the grayish skin side is placed face-down. ''Una-don'' was the first type of ''donburi'' rice dish, invented in the late

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, during the

Bunka was a after '' Kyōwa'' and before ''Bunsei''. The period spanned the years from January 1804 to April 1818. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * February 11, 1804 (): The new era name of ''Bunka'' ( meaning "Culture" or "Civili ...

era (1804–1818)

''Tamagodon''

consists of a

scrambled egg Scrambled eggs is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs), where the whites and yolks have been stirred, whipped, or beaten together (typically with salt, butter or oil, and sometimes water or milk, or other ingredients), then heated so ...

mixed with sweet ''donburi'' sauce on rice.

''Oyakodon''

consists of

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

, and sliced

scallion Scallions (also known as green onions and spring onions) are edible vegetables of various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions. Their close relatives include garlic, shallots, leeks, chive ...

served on top of a large bowl of rice. The chicken is also sometimes replaced with

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

in a variation referred to as .

''Katsudon''

consists of breaded deep-fried pork cutlets (''

tonkatsu is a Japanese dish that consists of a breaded, Deep frying, deep-fried pork cutlet. It involves coating slices of pork with Bread crumbs#Panko, panko (bread crumbs), and then frying them in oil. The two main types are fillet and loin. Tonkatsu ...

'') and onion are simmered and binding by beaten egg, then topped on rice. There are some regional variations in Japan.

''Sōsukatsudon''

is similar to Katsudon, but with sliced cabbage and sweet-salty sauce instead of egg.

''Konohadon''

is similar to ''oyakodon'', but using thin sliced

kamaboko is a type of Curing (chemistry), cured , a processed seafood product common in Japanese cuisine. It was initially made in the year 1115. Production and uses is made by forming various Purée, pureed deboned whitefish (fisheries term), whit ...

pieces instead of chicken meat. Popular in Kansai area.

''Karēdon''

consists of thickened curry-flavored ''

'' on rice. It was derived from curry ''

udon Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a soup as with a mild broth called made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usual ...

'' or curry ''nanban'' (a ''soba'' dish). Sold at ''soba/udon'' restaurants.

''Tekkadon''

consists of thinly-sliced raw

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

on rice. Spicy tekkadon is made with what can be a mix of spicy ingredients, a spicy orange sauce, or both (usually incorporates spring onions).

''Hokkaidon''

consists of thinly-sliced raw salmon over rice.

''Negitorodon''

consists of

negitoro ''Negitoro'' () is Mincing, minced raw Tuna as food, tuna in Japanese cuisine. It is typically made from ''Toro (sushi), toro'' (the fatty parts of tuna), and served with ''Allium fistulosum, negi'' (green onion). In addition to being an ingredi ...

, aka diced ''

toro Toro may refer to: Places *Toro, Molise, a ''comune'' in the Province of Campobasso, Italy *Toro, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria *Toro, Shizuoka, an archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Toro, Zamora, a ''m ...

'' (fatty tuna) and negi (spring onions) on rice.

''Ikuradon''

is seasoned ''ikura'' (salmon roe) on rice.

''Kaisendon''

consists of thinly-sliced

sashimi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or Raw meat, meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means 'pierced body', i.e., "wikt:刺身, 刺身" = ''sashimi'', whe ...

on rice. Fish roe may also be included.

''Tenshindon'' or ''tenshin-han''

is a Chinese-Japanese specialty, consisting of a crabmeat

omelet An omelette (sometimes omelet in American English; see spelling differences) is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs), fried with butter or oil in a frying pan. It is a common practice for an omelette to include fillings such as chiv ...

on rice; this dish is named for the city of

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

''Chūkadon''

consists of a bowl of rice with stir-fried vegetables, onions, mushrooms, and thin slices of meat on top. This dish is similar to

chop suey Chop suey (usually pronounced ) is a dish from American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, generally consisting of meat (usually chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or fish) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bea ...

, and is sold at inexpensive Chinese restaurants in Japan.

Gallery

File:Beefsukiyakidonjf1130.JPG, Pork ''sukiyakidon'' File:Akihabara kaisendon - Dec 2014.jpg, ''Kaisendon'' File:Tori Karaage Don With Onsen Tamago by Banej.jpg, A bowl of Japanese rice topped with ''

karaage is a Japanese cooking technique in which various foods—most often chicken, but also other meat and fish—are deep fried in oil. The process involves lightly coating small pieces of meat or fish with a combination of flour and potato starch ...

'' chicken, soft-boiled egg, vegetables and topped with condiments

References

Bibliography

* Tsuji, Shizuo (1980). ''Japanese cooking: A simple art''. New York: Kodansha International/USA. . {{Rice dishes Japanese rice dishes