Comfort and Joy

Andrew Zimmern teaches me patience and how to make oyakodon

My podcast guest this week was Andrew Zimmern…., We recorded on Election Day, unsure of how the vote would turn out.

I can sit here now and write from a still-rather-surprised-but-much-more-comfortable place, with Democrats and some moderate! Republicans doing unexpectedly well and most election deniers being denied. I can retire my John Fetterman for Senate t-shirt. (I have been a Fetterman fan, since Giselle Fetterman baked lasagna with me on my podcast and John popped in to say hello.) I can revel in the large turnout of young people willing to support democracy.

But on Tuesday I was rather edgy and shared my concerns with Andrew. “I have so much anger about the lies and hatred spewed by the Marjorie Taylor Greene’s of this world.” I gabbled at him. “The rise in anti-semitic rhetoric scares me. I keep all this anger tucked away and wonder how I’ll feel if I wake up tomorrow and find that the people who set out to divide us have been successful.”

His answer came from his years of experience with addiction (he is over 30 years clean): To live life in the present. Today and specifically, what’s right in front of me is all that matters.

(That is the Cliff’s Notes version. His answer is far elaborate and beautifully said than that. You can hear it all on the podcast.)

And with that, he wrangled me back into the present and taught me to make Oyakodon, a Japanese dish made with diced chicken, egg, and a umami-rich broth that’s served over a bowl of rice. It tastes far more complex than it is.

It can be made in less than 30 minutes and, as Andrew pointed out, making it can be as soothing a time as eating it. It’s not just comfort eating, but comfort cooking.

I hope you’ll try it.

I also want to add that meeting and talking with Andrew Zimmern was a true pleasure. I am glad there are people like him in the world.

Other good people in the world include Emily Nunn, whose Department of Salad substack is the best and, and, AND she inspired me to include printable recipes!

Oyakodon Recipe! Printable! Yes! Finally!

3.12MB ∙ PDF file

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Andrew Zimmern’s Oyakodon: Homestyle Japanese Chicken and Eggs

Makes 2 servings (Can be doubled or tripled, just change up your sauté pan size accordingly.)

It’s worth listening to the podcast before you make this, as Andrew offers many helpful hints on cooking this, not all of which can be included here.

You’ll Need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, sliced into thin half moons

2 large eggs

1/2 cup dashi**

1 1/2 tablespoons mirin

1 1/2 tablespoons sake

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

2 servings of cooked Japanese short-grain rice (hot)

2 small handfuls, sliced scallions

Shichimi togarashi for garnish (if you don’t already have this in the house, I promise you will find many other uses for it)

What You’ll Do:

1. Put the rice on to cook if you haven’t already.

2. In a measuring cup, mix together the dashi, mirin, sake, soy sauce and sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

3. In a shallow sauté pan, combine the chicken and onions. Add the measuring cup of liquids, stir and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan for 5 minutes to increase the circulation of heat. Uncover and continue to let it simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the onions look tender, translucent and have begun to wilt. The liquid should have reduced by about 75 percent or so.

4. Break the two eggs into a small bowl and run a knife or chopstick one or two times through the egg yolks to break them.

5. Drizzle the eggs around the chicken. Cook for a minute or two to allow the eggs to set.

6. Sprinkle with scallions and shichimi togarashi and serve over bowls of rice.

**Don’t have any homemade dashi around? I won’t tell if you make yours from a kombu dashi stock granules and water. You can buy kombu dashi stock everywhere, including from my favorite Japanese store, MTC Kitchen to Amazon to World Market.

Here is a vegetarian version for those who’d rather. I have not tried this recipe, but will this week. After my half of a pastrami sandwich yesterday, I am laying off the meat for a while…

Don’t feel like making oyakodon now? I made this recipe for blueberry-raspberry muffins this AM, with lots of cinnamon-nutmeg sugar on top.

Qs for Youse: How did you feel Tuesday? And how did you feel Wednesday? What about now?

What do you cook and eat to self-soothe(after oyakodon, of course, because once you make this, I promise this will move to the top of your list).