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Singapore has Chicken Rice. Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam as well. Japan is no exception, but it's not Hainanese chicken rice origin. The Chicken Rice from Aomori, a snowy prefecture located at the north-end of Japan's main island Honshu, is a famous Ekiben (bento boxes sold at train stations). It's a dish with soy sauce flavoured rice topped beautifully with Iri-Tamago (Japanese scrambled egg), Tori-Soboro (simmered chicken mince) and soy braised chicken thigh. The bento box once disappeared, but made a comeback after a strong request from its fans. It's definitely a dish to be passed down to future generations.
Prep Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • 2 saucepans preferably non-stick
  • 1 lid
  • 1 rice cooker
  • 2 small mixing bowls
  • 2 pairs cooking chopsticks or a whisk
  • 1 small strainer
  • 1 Tablespoon

Ingredients
  

  • 400 g Chicken thigh
  • 450 g Raw rice
  • Water (for cooking rice) Water + Chicken braising sauce = 540ml

-CHICKEN BRAISING SAUCE-

  • 4 tbsp Soy sauce
  • 4 tbsp Mirin
  • 4 tbsp Water
  • 2 tbsp Sugar
  • 5 slices Ginger

-TORI SOBORO- (simmered chicken mince)

  • 300 g Minced Chicken
  • tbsp Soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Sake
  • 1 tbsp Mirin
  • 2 tsp Vegetable oil

-IRI TAMAGO- (Japanese scrambled egg)

  • 4 Eggs
  • 4 tbsp Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Mirin
  • 2 pinches Salt

-OTEHERS-

  • 4 Snow peas
  • 2 cups Water
  • 1 pinch Salt
  • Some Shiba Zuke (purple pickled cucumber) or your favourite Japanese pickled vegetable

Instructions
 

  • Measure the chicken thigh and the ingredients for the braising sauce.
  • Cut the thigh in half and place the pieces in a saucepan along with the ingredients for the sauce.
  • Braise over low to medium-low heat for 5 minutes each side with a lid on.
  • Take off the lid and continue simmering until the liquid is reduced down to a third.
  • Take out the chicken and strain the sauce to remove ethe ginger slices.
  • Combine the sauce and the rice to make 540ml of rice cooking liquid. Add the rice and the sauce-water mixture into a rice cooker and press the start button..
  • In the meantime, measure the ingredients for Tori Soboro (simmered chicken mince).
  • Add all of them into a saucepan and stir well with chopsticks or a whisk to mix the mince and the seasonings together.
  • Simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is reduced to a third.
  • Turn off the heat and cool it down.
  • Prepare the ingredients for Iri Tamago (Japanese scrambled egg).
  • Beat the eggs well and add the seasonings. Beat further to mix them together.
  • Add the oil and the egg mixture into a non-stick saucepan and start heating over low heat.
  • Stir the egg mixture with chopsticks or a whisk using circular motions as you heat the egg and it coagulates.
  • Rinse the snow peas and tear off each end.
  • Add salt to a pot of boiling water and boil the snow pea for 2 minutes.
  • Strain the snow peas and and cool them down in a bowl of cold water.
  • Slice the chicken thigh into bite-size pieces and place all the other to toppings (Tori Soboro, Iri Tamago, snow peas, Shiba-zuke) to get ready for assembling the dish.
  • Put a portion of rice in a serving bowl and cover half of the top surface with the chicken mince, and the other with the scrambled. Then top it with a few pieces of chicken thigh.
  • Finally garnish it with a snow pea and Shiba-Zuke.