Donburi



Donburi (丼) is a Japanese "rice-bowl dish" consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice. Donburi meals are usually served in oversized rice bowls which are also called donburi. If one needs to distinguish, the bowl is called donburi-bachi (丼) and the food is called donburi-mono.

The simmering sauce varies according to season, ingredients, region, and taste. A typical sauce might consist of dashi (stock broth) flavored with soy sauce and mirin (rice wine). Proportions vary, but there is normally three to four times as much dashi as soy sauce and mirin. For oyakodon, Tsuji (1980) recommends dashi flavored with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar. For gyūdon, 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
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, and is sometimes topped with a raw egg or a soft poached egg (onsen tamago).

Butadon
Buta means pork. "Butadon" is a dish made with pork instead of beef in a mildly sweet sauce. Butadon originated in Hokkaido but is now enjoyed all over Japan.

Tendon
Tendon consists of tempura on a bowl of rice. The name "tendon" is an abbreviation of tempura (天ぷら or 天麩羅) and donburi (丼).

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

Unadon
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, during the Bunka era (1804–1818)

Tamagodon
Tamagodon consists of a scrambled egg mixed with sweet donburi sauce on rice.

Oyakodon
Oyakodon consists of simmered chicken, egg, and sliced scallion served on top of a large bowl of rice. The chicken is also sometimes replaced with beef or pork in a variation referred to as Tanindon (丼).

Katsudon
Katsudon consists of breaded deep-fried pork cutlets (tonkatsu) and onion are simmered and binding by beaten egg, then topped on rice. There are some regional variations in Japan.

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

Konohadon
Konohadon is similar to oyakodon, but using thin sliced kamaboko pieces instead of chicken meat. Popular in Kansai area.

Karēdon
Karēdon consists of thickened curry-flavored dashi on rice. It was derived from curry udon or curry nanban (a soba dish). Sold at soba/udon restaurants.

Tekkadon


Tekkadon consists of thinly-sliced raw tuna 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
Hokkaidon consists of thinly-sliced raw salmon over rice.

Negitorodon
Negitorodon (トロ丼) consists of negitoro, aka diced toro (fatty tuna) and negi (spring onions) on rice.

Ikuradon
Ikuradon (いくら丼) is seasoned ikura (salmon roe) on rice.

Kaisendon
Kaisendon consists of thinly-sliced sashimi on rice. Fish roe may also be included.

Tenshindon or tenshin-han
Tenshindon or tenshin-han (/ 天津) is a Chinese-Japanese specialty, consisting of a crabmeat omelet on rice; this dish is named for the city of Tianjin.

Chūkadon
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, and is sold at inexpensive Chinese restaurants in Japan.