Japanese cuisine has become a firm favourite for my family in recent years. Whenever we feel lazy and don’t want to cook dinner, we find ourselves ordering Japanese food more often than anything else. It all started with sushi but eventually we discovered so many dishes we love. Donburi is one of them.
What is Donburi?
To put it plainly, it means “rice bowl”, which also means there is so much variety when it comes to these bowls. You can fill your rice bowl with anything you truly love. My kids favourite is teriyaki salmon, chicken or duck. I personally love mine loaded with heaps of stir fried vegetables and topped with furikake, a Japanese seasoning of toasted sesame seeds, nori, salt and other things. The variations of this dish are endless, which means I will probably never get tired of it. Apart, from being very tasty and quite lean, this dish is also stunningly beautiful as most Japanese food. I love putting together a donburi bowl! It’s like a work of art. Each one is unique depending on the ingredients.
What Rice to Use
Since rice is essential to this dish, it’s important to mention what rice to use and how to cook it. I grew up in a European household and until my mid 20s I thought rice was rice. Then I spent a year in the Philippines and realised how wrong I was! There are many varieties of rice and each dish might require a specific type. This is the case for these bowls. If you are familiar with sushi, you will immediately know that the rice used is short grain and sticky. It is often called Sushi Rice in supermarkets or Japanese rice. If you can’t find it, you can substitute with another type of short grain rice like Italian arborio, used for risotto or Spanish bomba rice, which is used for Paella. The method of cooking is very simple. My preferred way is done in the Instant Pot. You can also use a rice cooker or a stovetop method.
Stir Fried Vegetables
Quite often you will see wilted spinach as a vegetable of choice in donburi. What you use is your preference entirely. I quite like a combination of shredded cabbage, carrots and spinach. I cook the vegetables very simply with a touch of garlic, ginger and soy sauce. That’s it! And if you slice your cabbage very thinly, they stir fry is done in less than 10 minutes. However, vegetables like mushrooms and broccoli are also very delicious and taste wonderfully with sticky rice. I would recommend do a little fridge foraging and use any vegetables you’ve got!
Additional Toppings
It’s no secret that all the extras make donburi bowls taste especially delicious. My absolute favourite is furikake seasoning, which I sprinkle over the whole dish immediately before serving. My teenagers got me into thinly julienned carrots and black sesame seeds. I can’t imagine eating these rice bowls without them anymore.
Sliced green onions add a nice bite and a splash of green colour, which looks so pretty. If you ever make sushi at home, you probably have some leftover nori sheets kicking around. They also add a beautiful umami flavour to donburi bowls. I cut them into narrow strips and sprinkle all over. Finally, add some edamame beans for extra protein and texture! Or you can serve the edamame beans in their pods as an appetizer. More Japanese Recipes to Try:
Chicken Yaki Udon Udon Noodle Soup Chicken Katsu Curry Shoyu Chicken (Soy Sauce Chicken)
