Donburi
Encyclopedia
Donburi is a Japanese
"rice bowl dish" consisting of fish
, meat
, vegetable
s or other ingredients simmered
together and served over rice
. Donburi meals are served in oversized rice bowl
s also called donburi. Donburi are sometimes called sweetened or savory stew
s on rice.
The simmering sauce varies according to season, ingredient, region, and taste. A typical sauce might consist of dashi
flavored with shoyu
and mirin
. Proportions vary, but there is normally three to four times as much dashi as shoyu and mirin. For oyakodon
, Tsuji (1980) recommends dashi flavored with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar. For gyudon
, Tsuji recommends water flavored with dark soy sauce and mirin.
In many restaurants, the term "donburi" applies to almost any food, especially sliced raw fish, served on top of the rice, as the following list shows.
Donburi can be made from almost any ingredients, including left-overs. Inexpensive Chinese
restaurants in Japan often serve chūkadon
(中華丼) or gomoku-chukadon (五目中華丼)—stir-fried assorted vegetables with some meat over rice in a big bowl. Not traditionally Japanese or Chinese, the hybrid dish indicates the popularity of donburi in Japan.
Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes throughout Japan. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of shogun rule...
"rice bowl dish" consisting of fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
, vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s or other ingredients simmered
Simmering
Simmering is a food preparation technique in which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept at or just below the boiling point of water , but higher than poaching temperature...
together and served over rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
. Donburi meals are served in oversized rice bowl
Bowl (vessel)
A bowl is a common open-top container used in many cultures to serve food, and is also used for drinking and storing other items. They are typically small and shallow, although some, such as punch bowls and salad bowls, are larger and often intended to serve many people.Bowls have existed for...
s also called donburi. Donburi are sometimes called sweetened or savory stew
Stew
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used...
s on rice.
The simmering sauce varies according to season, ingredient, region, and taste. A typical sauce might consist of dashi
Dashi
Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stock, considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. In 1980, Shizuo Tsuji wrote: "Many substitutes for dashi are possible, but without dashi, dishes are merely à la japonaise and lack the authentic flavor." Dashi forms the base for miso soup, clear broth, noodle...
flavored with shoyu
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
and mirin
Mirin
is an essential condiment used in Japanese cuisine, consisting of 40%–50% sugar. It is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content—14% instead of 20%. There are three general types. The first is hon mirin , which contains alcohol. The second is shio mirin, which contains...
. Proportions vary, but there is normally three to four times as much dashi as shoyu and mirin. For oyakodon
Oyakodon
, literally "parent-and-child donburi", is a donburi, or Japanese rice bowl dish, in which chicken, egg, sliced green onions , and other ingredients are all simmered together in a sauce and then served on top of a large bowl of rice...
, Tsuji (1980) recommends dashi flavored with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar. For gyudon
Gyudon
, , is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with dashi , soy sauce and mirin . It also often includes shirataki noodles, and is sometimes topped with a raw egg...
, Tsuji recommends water flavored with dark soy sauce and mirin.
In many restaurants, the term "donburi" applies to almost any food, especially sliced raw fish, served on top of the rice, as the following list shows.
Varieties of donburi
Traditional Japanese donburi include the following:- GyūdonGyudon, , is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with dashi , soy sauce and mirin . It also often includes shirataki noodles, and is sometimes topped with a raw egg...
(牛丼): beefBeefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
and onion on rice. - Tendon (天丼): tempuraTempura], is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried.-Batter:A light batter is made of cold water and soft wheat flour . Eggs, baking soda or baking powder, starch, oil, and/or spices may also be added...
shrimpShrimpShrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
and vegetables on rice. - UnadonUnadonAn Unadon is a popular donburi dish made with unagi kabayaki, grilled eel coated with a sweet sauce....
(鰻丼): unagiUnagiUnagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eels, especially the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. Saltwater eels are known as anago in Japanese. Unagi are a common ingredient in Japanese cooking...
kabayakiKabayakiis a generic Japanese term for a dish of seafood which is filleted, boned and dipped in a sweet soy sauce-base sauce before broiled on a grill. In general, kabayaki refers to the dish made with unagi. Kabayaki eel is very popular as a nutritious, stamina-generating food...
(grilled eel) on rice. - Tamagodon (玉子丼): a scrambled egg mixed with sweet donburi sauce on rice.
- OyakodonOyakodon, literally "parent-and-child donburi", is a donburi, or Japanese rice bowl dish, in which chicken, egg, sliced green onions , and other ingredients are all simmered together in a sauce and then served on top of a large bowl of rice...
(親子丼): simmered chickenChickenThe chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
, egg and onionOnionThe onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
on rice. - KatsudonKatsudonA katsudon is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and condiments. Variations include sauce katsudon , demi katsudon , shio katsudon , shōyu-dare katsudon , and miso katsudon A katsudon (カツ丼) is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a...
(カツ丼): breaded deep-fried porkPorkPork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
cutlets (tonkatsuTonkatsuTonkatsu , invented in the late 19th century, is a popular dish in Japan. It consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet one to two centimeters thick and sliced into bite-sized pieces, generally served with shredded cabbage and/or miso soup...
), onion, and egg on rice. - TekkadonTekkadonis a rice dish topped with thin-sliced raw tuna sashimi. Spicy tekkadon is made with what can be a mix of spicy ingredients, a spicy orange sauce, or both, usually incorporating spring onions....
(鉄火丼): thin-sliced raw tuna over rice. Spicy tekkadon is made with what can be a mix of spicy ingredients, a spicy orange sauce, or both (usually incorporates spring onions). - Hokkadon: thin-sliced raw salmon over rice.
- Negitorodon (ネギトロ丼): diced toro (fatty tuna) and negi (spring onions) on rice.
- TenshindonTenshindonTenshindon is a Chinese-Japanese specialty, consisting of a crabmeat omelette on rice, this is called天津飯 tenshinhan, named for Tianjin, China....
or Tenshin-han (天津丼 / 天津飯): a Chinese-Japanese specialty, consisting of a crabmeat omelet on rice; this dish is named for TianjinTianjin' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
, ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Donburi can be made from almost any ingredients, including left-overs. Inexpensive Chinese
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
restaurants in Japan often serve chūkadon
Chukadon
thumb|Chūkadon is a popular Japanese fast food dish. It consists of a bowl of rice with stir-fried vegetables, onions, mushrooms, and thin slices of meat on top. Literally meaning "Chinese rice bowl", it is inspired by Chinese cuisine. It is a kind of donburi....
(中華丼) or gomoku-chukadon (五目中華丼)—stir-fried assorted vegetables with some meat over rice in a big bowl. Not traditionally Japanese or Chinese, the hybrid dish indicates the popularity of donburi in Japan.
External links
- Images of donburi at Japanese Wikipedia