Basara-style 'Oyako don buri'

Many people may already be familiar with Japan's popular dish Oyako don buri (warm rice served with chicken and egg topping), but Basara restaurant has its own unique style of preparing this classic dish.

Commonly sold in fastfood restaurants, Oyako don buri is not difficult to make. But making it special needs meticulous handling during the cooking process.

"The eggs have to be half-cooked. And make sure that the eggs and the dashi are well blended by carefully stirring them over a medium heat," explained chef Hiroki Takai, while describing that such a smooth topping is characteristic of Basara's Oyako don buri.

Failure to properly blend the eggs with the dashi broth could result in nothing more than your regular hard-boiled egg.

To make dashi, besides using kombu, the chefs at Basara also use grated katsuo (cakalang or skipjack which have been seasoned and dried). This ingredient adds a special flavor to the dashi.

The chef explained that preparing the processed katsuo is the most difficult part in the making of dashi.

Oyako don buri

* 60g chicken thigh, bones removed * 60ml dashi * 10ml soy sauce * 10ml mirrin * leek, finely sliced * 3 eggs * nori for garnish

(Makes 1 serving)

1. Cook the chicken thigh, dashi, soya sauce, mirrin and leeks together in a pan over a medium heat. When the chicken is almost cooked, add in the three eggs. Make sure the dashi is adequately absorbed by the eggs. 2. Remove the pan from the heat before the eggs are completely set and immediately pour the mixture on top of a bowl of rice. Garnish it with nori.

To make dashi (traditional Japanese broth): * 250ml water * A piece of kombu (a type of seaweed, available in supermarkets) * 100g grated katsuo

Bring the water to a boil, add in the kombu and katsuo, cook until it simmers. Prepare another pan, line it with a clean piece of cloth and use of it to filter the stock. The filtered stock can be used to make other Japanese dishes.

Maria Endah Hulupi