Salmon and Egg Donburi

Truth to be told, I was planning on making salmon oyakodon. It's similar to the commonly seen chicken oyakodon, as the name roughly suggests parents and child, so one can relate its main ingredients as chicken and eggs. 

So for the salmon version, it should be salmon and ikura (salmon roe), but I didn't want to use ikura since I might reheat this meal later on. Don't feel like getting ikura cooked. So I swapped out the ikura with chicken egg still, not so much of parent and child anymore, but it does tastes good even after reheating the day after.

Salmon and egg donburi -

Ingredients (about 4 portions)?

• 4 portions quinoa white rice
• 1 1/2 cups salmon chunks
• 3 to 4 eggs
• 1 medium onion
• 10 shiso leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 tablespoons twice condensed tsuyu
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sake/rice cooking wine
• 1/2 teaspoon grated garlic
• Some flour
• Some olive oil

How?

I got some salmon fillets and cut them into larger bite size chunks. Beat the eggs. 

Peel and slice the onion. Peel and grate the garlic clove. Finely chop shiso leaves. Prepare enough white rice for four portions. I actually added some quinoa for extra texture and health benefit.

Pre-mix the sauce in a bowl with 4 tablespoons tsuyu, 2 tablespoons mirin, and 1/2 teaspoon grated garlic.

Lightly marinate the salmon with 2 teaspoons soy sauce and 2 teaspoons sake. About 10 minutes. Once done, dust salmon chunks with some flour.

Drizzle enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a non-stick pan and turn to medium high heat. Once the surface gets warm, add in salmon chunks one by one and sear till colored. Flip once a while till all sides turn slightly golden. Scoop out.

Use the same pan, add in 2 more tablespoons of olive oil along with onion slices, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Sear till the onion gets slightly browned on the edges.

Add in premixed sauce. The sauce should boil right away since the pan is really hot, so quickly transfer seared salmon chunks over and give it a quick toss. Cook for another minute using medium heat. 

Further turning down the heat then pour in beaten egg. Give it a gentle stir then turn off the heat right away. The residual heat will continue to cook the eggs. Try not to overcook the eggs. Aiming for salmon chunks encased in semi-cooked, soft textured eggs. 

Scoop some quinoa rice to serving bowls and pour in some salmon and egg mixture. Garnish with chopped shiso leaves.

This not so parent and child version of salmon oyakodon actually turned out pretty heart-warming. Perhaps even better than ikura, especially the weather is getting cold here, slightly cooked egg with oozing yolk sounds just about right.


Other rice recipes:

• Salt cure fish and chicken fried rice 鹹魚雞粒炒飯
• Ground pork and Chinese basil AKA da pao fried rice 打拋豬肉風炒飯
• Butter and soy sauce fried rice (奶油醬油炒飯)
• Philadelphia roll...almost (with salmon, cream cheese, and avocado)
• Shaoxing pork rice bowls 紹興豬肉丼
• Rice and braised ground pork and shiitake mushrooms (香菇肉燥飯)

Cheese Hambagu チーズハンバーグ

Good thing that my cheese hambagu pictures turn out ok still. 


Besides carrot, I was going to boil some broccoli to arrange around the meat patties. However, I was slightly frightened by the little black things found in between florets, they were moving too! Maybe next time, but I'm going to stick with carrot, just carrot for now.

Cheese Hambagu チーズハンバーグ -

Ingredients (about 4 portions)?

• 240 grams ground pork
• 200 grams ground chicken
• 200 grams mixed shredded cheese
• 1 small purple onion
• 1 small carrot
• 1 egg 
• 1/4 cup panko
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• Some dried seaweed powder or threaded seaweed (optional)

How?

Ground beef/ground pork combo probably turns out more flavorful for this hambagu recipe, but couldn't get a hold of ground beef, so I switched to ground chicken instead. Good thing is that this recipe also involves melted cheese, so even with leaner ground chicken, oozing cheese came to a rescue.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/205 degrees Celsius. Use a cast iron, or line a baking dish with foil instead.

Peel and thinly slice the onion. Transfer to cast iron or baking dish. 

Peel and roughly cut the carrot into chunks. Fill a pot with water and add in the carrot, bring to a boil and cook till the carrot reaches desired texture. Drain and set aside for later use.

Take a medium bowl, mix in ground pork, ground chicken, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 cup panko, 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Mix till combined. Separate the mixture evenly then form into patties.

Take one palm-ful of mixed cheese and squeeze tightly to form a small ball. Insert the cheese ball to the center of each patty. Reshape the meat patty and make sure the cheese ball is fully encased within.

Drizzle some olive oil to a pan and turn to medium high heat. Once warmed up, transfer the patties over and sear till slightly browned. Flip and continue to sear the other side till colored. 

Transfer seared patties to cast iron or baking dish, arrange the patties above onion slices. Add in more mixed cheese on top of meat patties. 

Into the oven and bake till cheese melts, about 15 minutes. 

Once ready, serve the cheese hambagu with cast iron, or transfer both the patty and onion slices to another serving plate. Garnish with boiled carrot. Also garnish with dried seaweed powder or threaded seaweed if using.

There is no need to adjust the seasonings if using ground beef instead of ground chicken. The end result should be more flavorful with extra beefy aroma. But I'm happy with oozing cheese inside whatsoever.

About my broccoli, maybe I should put on the gloves and see what to do with the residents there.