Chicken, Eggs and Onions Cooked in Dashi (Oyakodon)

Oyakodon is a classic homestyle dish consisting of chopped chicken thighs, sliced onions and lightly beaten egg cooked in a covered skillet with a sweet-and-savory dashi-based broth. It's the epitome of Japanese comfort food.

At Tokyo's WaShi restaurant, Chef Takanori Hamano prepares his oyakodon by first cooking skin-on, boneless chicken thighs in a skillet just long enough to crisp the skin. He then cuts the (still-raw) thighs into small chunks and brings a mixture of dashi, mirin, soy sauce and sugar to a simmer, adds the chicken and sliced white onion, and lets everything cook for a few minutes until the chicken is done. Next, he adds two beaten eggs in two additions: The first half cooks in the covered skillet until set; the second half is added to the skillet off-heat, then allowed to rest (still covered) for 3-4 minutes so it stays a little runny. The finishing touch is a sprinkling of chopped mitsuba, a parsley-like Japanese herb; regular parsley works just as well. Oyakodon is served, of course, with plenty of hot white rice.