I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We went to the Sierras for tubing and playing in the snow. Kids had so much fun swimming at the hotel and playing in the snow during our stay. We’re pretty exhausted from the physical fun trip but our kids wanted to stay there and didn’t want to come back at all.
The weather was nice and the scenery was gorgeous. One of the greatest things about living in San Francisco is that within a 3-hour drive, you can either enjoy the snow or go to a desert. Well, it was a really nice break for me away from working on computer and I’m recharged!
Today’s recipe is Soboro Don (Minced Chicken & Egg on Rice). This dish is usually served at the end of a meal at Yakitori restaurants (chicken skewers). Our children usually want to eat rice with their meals so we order Soboro Don for them even before we finish the yakitori meal.
At the restaurants, typically it’s just the mined chicken over rice. However, at home the Japanese usually make it into Three-Color Soboro Don – as in brown chicken, yellow eggs, and some green veggies (green peas and spinach are commonly used).
As the flavors are supposed to be sweet rather than salty (however, feel free to adjust the amount of sugar), the children as well as adults enjoy this quick meal. It was my favorite donburi (rice bowl) meal while growing up. I especially liked it when I opened my bento (lunch box) at school lunch time and found Soboro Don in it.
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Soboro Don is usually served at the end of a meal at Yakitori (chicken skewers) restaurants in Japan. It's typically just the ground chicken over rice; however, at home, this dish consists of ground chicken, eggs, and some green veggies to make it more colorful.
- 1 Tbsp neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- ½ lb ground chicken (you can also mince chicken breasts/thighs)
- 1 tsp ginger (grated, with juice)
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 2 Tbsp sugar (Use 1 Tbsp if you prefer less sweet)
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- 2-3 servings cooked Japanese short grain rice
- ¼ cup green peas (defrosted)
- Pickled red ginger (beni shoga)
Gather all the ingredients.
- Heat the non-stick frying pan on medium heat and cook the chicken until almost cooked through. Using wooden spoon, break up the meat into small pieces.
- Add sake, sugar, and mirin.
- Add soy sauce and continue to break up the meat into smaller pieces.
- Grate ginger and keep the juice. When meat is broken up to pieces, add the ginger with juice.
- Cook until the liquid is 98% gone. Transfer to a bowl for now and wash the frying pan.
- Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add sugar. Mix well until sugar is completely dissolved. Prepare several cooking chopsticks.
- Heat the oil in the frying pan over medium low heat and pour egg mixture in there.
- Hold several chopsticks in one hand and break the egg into small pieces. When it’s cooked, transfer to a bowl.
- Now you have three ingredients in a separate bowls.
- Serve rice in a bowl and put the three toppings on top as you like. Garnish with pickled ginger (kizami shoga).
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: Food pictures updated in September 2012.
love soboro so delicious and easy to make 🙂 looks like you had a great weekend!
Thanks Kat! Yes…we had so much fun. I was so tired all day and even took a 3-hour nap with the kids. =P
looks so yummy and easy to make, i know what i’ll pack for nathan’s lunch next week! 🙂
Thanks Wendy! I’m sure Nathan will like this. Don’t forget to pack a spoon!
I have never had soboro! It looks divine though 🙂
Your children are adorable, so glad you had a nice trip/weekend!!
Thanks Allie!
Your children looks absolutely adorable 🙂 I can just imagine them whinging all the way home, which actually reminds me of me when I was a kid! This does sound like a super easy and wonderful dish to make on a simple day 😉
Thank you Min! Yes, my daughter copies whatever my older son does, which makes it worse as she becomes like an echo. I’m glad they had fun, and hope to take them somewhere soon. Yes, this is perfect for a simple and BUSY day. 😉
This looks like a great donburi make for lunch for the preschool boys I watch and think they will enjoy it and I know I will ! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Denise! You are welcome! Hope the boys will like it. 🙂
Yay I have all these ingredients already. I’m going to make this for my boyfriend for his bento this weekend! (Poor thing has to work Sat and Sun)
Hi Lindsey! You are making Obento for your BF? How sweet!! I pack “leftover” for my husband’s lunch. LOL. I hope he will like it. 🙂
What an adorable family you have – just gorgeous! Sounds like you had a fabulous weekend. This dish looks so simple and delicious – very nice!
Hi Ewa! Thank you. This picture was “okay” because my son at least look at the camera. Most pictures my kids are looking somewhere. I guess I took so many pictures of them…and they don’t pay attention anymore. 🙁
Looks so yummy! AND I love your picture! I need to ask you to come and to take some pictures for my jewelry very soon ; )
Thanks Mika-san! Sure I’ll take pictures of your jewelry – need to schedule as our weekends are getting full.
Oh.My.God. Your kids are too cute!! Ahhhh! Glad you guys had a good weekend! And, I love the way you presented this dish, so pretty! It sounds really yummy too!
Thanks Beth! My kids are crazy animals. 😀 We had too much fun and now I’m too tired… hehe.
This sound divine, love the flavors in this dish and it look like a great comforting meal! Great photo of you and your family! Your kids are adorable!!! Thanks you for sharing your weekend with us!!!
Thank you Sandra! I always debate if I should talk about my family more or just focus on recipes, and haven’t made up my mind yet. Haha.
What a sweet photo. This bowl of donburi is making me HUNGRY!
Thanks Belinda! Haha me too I can eat the bowl again (just had dinner 5 hours ago…)!
Good looking family! Glad your weekend was fun. This is a quick and simple recipe. Just what I need right about now. What are your breaking up the meat and stiring the eggs with?
Thanks Sandra! I use cooking chopsticks, several of them. It’s faster to separate meat and eggs. If you use just a pair, it will take forever to break into small pieces… In Japan (probably other Asian countries too) we have “cooking” chopsticks, which are wooden and longer than regular chopsticks. In case you are interested, you can buy them at Asian market. 🙂
Nami, this is one of the reasons I love your blog, every time I visit, I learn something new!
p.s. Lovely family photo and your children are so cute 🙂
Thank you Gourmantine! I think I learn way more when I visit your site though. LOL. And thanks for your compliment about my kids. 🙂
This dish looks delicious! Love your family photo too! Hope you guys had fun in the snow 🙂
Thank you Kara! We had a great time there and my kids were really sad to leave. Back to our regular life… 🙂
Nami, so nice to “meet” you and your family…the kids are so cute…what a blessing. This dish looks delicious, love the simplicity and yet so yummie. I love how you presented…so pretty. Have a great week ahead 🙂
Nice to meet you too, Juliana! Thank you for your kind words. 🙂 Have a great week too!
Nami – You’re right! They do have the same shirt on & on the same day too! Too funny! I know where you shop now! I love love love this family photo. Your kids are adorable! I also love the bowl your dish is in, & I love your new blog layout with the foodbuzz pics, & I especially love your cooking . . . xo
Hi Shannon! Yes, that store has been my favorite after kids were born. They don’t mind going, which is why I can actually “shop”. The bowl is a set of red and blue and it’s a Japanese plum flower. Since I can’t find any nice Japanese dish, I asked my best friend for my b-day last year. 😀 I’m glad someone notice it. Hehee.
I love Japanese dishes . . . the simple designs. I can’t seem to find any I like here. Did you BFF send them from Japan?
Yes she did… she went to a couple of stores, take a picture with her phone, sent it to me, and I liked this one most. Such a convenient world! It was like I was shopping there.
Your family is so adorable! You guys remind me so much of ourselves!! Does that make sense?
I still continue to be amazed at the sheer breadth of your cooking talent. Did you learn this all from family growing up?
Hi Jamie! Thanks, and I know EXACTLY what you mean. LOL!!! Yes, I learned from my mom who cooked every night. Not only that, she “made” me stay in the kitchen and help her cook dinner…. In that sense, I didn’t have a choice! But now I’m thankful for what she did. But I was too young and all I wanted was just to eat not to cook… LOL.
You have a beautiful family 🙂 so glad you had a nice weekend 🙂
I love this dish, never made it myself but have tried it before at a friends house. Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you Suzana!
That’s a lovely family picture and your kids are adorable! When my boys were younger, we used to do a lot of outdoor things like that. Now that they are a little more grown, they have their own activities and I miss the things we used to do.
That’s a very tasty looking donburi. Our family would love it!
Hi Biren! I see… I understand what you mean. They will have their own friends and will be busy with their own activities. I must enjoy this time! Hopefully by then I get to spend more time on cooking and trying new things such as baking sweets!
That’s right Nami! Enjoy this time as it goes by very quickly.
Hi Kelly! Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll check yours now. 🙂
You have such a cute family Nami! Glad you all had a great weekend!
Thanks Peggy! How’s your week so far after the vacation? Looking forward to your new post!
Looks delish! And your family is beautiful!!! So glad you had such a great weekend!
Thank you Tiffany! 🙂
What a great blog you have Nami! 🙂
I really like this recipe, I think my little girls would love it to!!! 🙂
You have a beautiful family! <3
Thank you Manu! It’s really nice to meet you! We moms always look for recipes that kids would like. 🙂 I hope your cute little girls will like this recipe!
So nice!!! I love this and I am sure kids will love it tooo…..miced egg and meat. Great for kids 🙂
Hi Ellena! Yeah these are great for kids because of sweet soy sauce taste. 🙂
Looks yummy! Your children are adorable. Glad to see you guys had so much fun 🙂 Myself, I could go without seeing snow for the rest of my life!
Hi Dee! Hahahaha… I guess you had ENOUGH of snow this year (or every year). We don’t get snow here so it’s a fun adventure for the kids! My son was so happy making angel shape. 🙂
Hello Nami,
wow I love your space here. I’m glad I’ve bumped into you at Foodbuzz. So many fantastic recipes you have that I would love to try too! This miso soup for one, I haven’t made one before but will start with your basic recipe haha.
great family picture, glad you had a fun vacay.
looking forward to know you more.. read more posts.. and try your food.
cheers!
malou
Hi Malou! It’s really nice to meet you! I’m looking forward to following you and learning from you too! 🙂
This is one of our favorite quick dishes (but I always use a bunch of peas to add more vegetables). I especially love the ginger taste in the chicken!
~Susan (I am taking a break from my food blog because of school work and summertime…)
PS – I wish I rememberd you live in San Francisco. We were just there this week. I would have asked you where to eat! (although we ended up eating a delicious dimsum sampler somewhere in Chinatown).
~Susan
This looks yum!
It looks like a real fun trip! Just adorable how you line up your little peas on the plate. I love your attention to details. Take care, BAM
Thanks for this…it was one of my daughters favorites as a child!
So glad you did a bento box with this because I had missed it. I love this and is definitely a dish that would be a huge hit with Bobby and me.
I would like to make this with ground beef. It would be a cheap and easy meal. 🙂
We have so much ground beef in our house.
Hi Katie! Ground beef works too! Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I tried this with ground beef today… but my beef produced a lot of grease. There isn’t a leaner version available for sale at the store I shop at, so what do I do? Does ground chicken do this or not? I typically have ground beef on hand, but maybe I’ll buy some chicken too if it makes this dish easier. It’s such an easy and tasty meal.
Hi Nami,
I was wondering what can I use instead of mirin and sake?
Thank you 🙂
Hi Z! If you can’t consume alcohol, you can avoid both of them, but add more sugar (and water to dilute a bit). 🙂
I’ve had lots of soboro in Japan, and this recipe is WAAAAAY sweet! Next time I would use much less sugar; the mirin adds quite a bit of sweetness as well.
Other than that, great recipe. Thank you!
Thanks so much for your feedback, Amy! 🙂
Hi Nami-san,
I wished to clarify, I watched an episode in one of NHK World’s cooking shows and it featured a soboro don recipe using sea bream. Does soboro don actually mean I need to use minced chicken? I’ve just recently explored Japanese food and wanted to know about it. I actually posted a recipe based on what I watched and if I made a mistake in naming it then I’d really appreciate your clarification on the matter
Thanks,
Cath
Hi Cath! “Soboro” in Japanese means that you break up meat or fish into small pieces and then cook in seasonings. The ingredient can be chicken (like this recipe) and fish (I often make with salmon). Hope this helps! 🙂
Nami-san,
Thanks for the reply!
Hi dear Nami San
Domo domo
It’s looks fantactic
I love to make it I have all the ingredient
I love you recipes and you job!!
Gambate nee!!
Regards
Sirous
Arigato Sirous! I appreciate your support and love! 🙂
I’ve been making a recipe very similar to this (it also uses a block of previously frozen, crumbled tofu mixed in with the meat) and it is so tasty! Early on I thought it might be good with some minced water chestnut added for crunch and it was a great addition. I just mince one can in a chopper and the slight contrast is lovely.
Hi Nami,
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for sharing all your Japanese recipes here. They’re really very simple (especially when you took the trouble to take and post photos of each step of instructions). I cooked this today for our lunch and my two fussy kids just loved it. Only thing I changed was that I opted out of the ginger as they didn’t like it. I also tried your Oyakodon recipe last night and again, it was a success. So, once again, thank you so much for sharing your recipes here.
Btw, hope you don’t mind but I’ve recommended your website/blog to a friend of mine who wanted to try out what I made. Hope you have a great day. Cheers
Hi Jennifer! Aww thank you so much for your sweet and kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear your children enjoyed this dish! It’s a bit sweet dish, so it’s easy for children to enjoy. 🙂
These step by step pictures were taken by myself back then, so it was limited, but now Mr. JOC helps taking step-by-step pictures and we make the videos together so it’s slightly easier to cook without a camera in one hand. 🙂
Thank you for introducing my site to your friend! I hope she/he will enjoy my site! Happy cooking! xo
Nami,
If I don’t have mirin, will only using the sake and sugar be enough?
Hi Aileen! It’s not the same, but 1 Tbsp. mirin = 1 Tbsp. sake/water/chinese rice wine/dry sherry + 1 tsp. sugar. 🙂
I made this with leftover roasted chicken thighs, mince very fine. I made lunch for 2 Japanese ladies in their 80s. They had never had soboro made from chicken. Only canned tuna (which is what I grew up with). But they loved it and thought it tasted just like tuna soboro. They were quite impressed along with the other traditional Japanese food I prepared.
Hi Chieko! I’m so happy to hear that! How wonderful that they also enjoyed your meal!!! Thank you for sharing your story! 🙂
hi! I only just came across your blog recently! Am keen to try this recipe! just wondering though, are there any alternative vegetables that would go with this donburi? Our family’s not really into peas…
Hi Footai! Welcome to my blog! Of course, any green vegetable is okay. Green beans, snow peas… any green. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I just fed this recipe to Nana and she liked it. At her age it is hard to make real home cooking. Thanks for the directions and recipes.
Hi Rose! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear she liked it too. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback. xo
I made it tonight for the first time and we liked it! I almost never cook chicken as my husband doesn’t like chicken. But today he bought ground chicken by mistake 🙂
Our preschool daughter ate a lot as it was a sweet taste.
I was surprised how quick and easy it was. And we saved some for tomorrow’s lunch. Thank you!
Hi Olha! So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thanks so much for trying this recipe. Lots of kids love soboro because of sweet taste. I think restaurants tend to serve much sweeter version, but we can keep it less sweet for homemade version. 🙂
Sometimes when I feel depressed or just simply in need of cheering up I make this dish. It really makes me feel at home and loved. My mom used to make something similar when I was a kid but she typically used beef and it tended to be taco or catsup flavor. She always served it with a bit of sour cream or some mayonnaise on top. It was really comforting back then.
Hi Charise! It’s a comfort dish! Thank you for sharing your story with us! 🙂
If I were to use beef instead of chicken would it still call soboro donburi ? Is it okay to use beef ?
Hi June! It’s called Gyu (beef) Soboro, like Gyudon (beef donburi). 🙂 Somehow, the beef one is seasoned stronger (more soy sauce and more sugar) as beef has more flavors and need to season more. 🙂
Hi Nami ! Thanks for replying. I see so what would be the seasoning ratio you would suggest if I want to try it wit beef ?
Hi June! You can try this same recipe and see if the adjustment is necessary. I haven’t tried this portion with beef before but if you need to adjust, you can add more soy sauce or mirin or sugar, depending on your preference.
Sounds easy and delicious! Just wondering, is it possible to substitute the sake with something else or leave it out completely?
Hi Mapes! Sure, use 1 Tbsp. water instead. 🙂
Great, thanks Nami!
HI i love a lot of your recipes but I think for this one in particular it came out too sweet. perhaps it could be cut in half for the chicken/less mirin instead of sake 🙂
Hi Lisa! When you have soboro don or soboro bento at restaurants or outside, it’s actually very sweet, way sweeter than this recipe. I don’t know why, but it’s a signature of this dish. 🙂 Maybe that’s why a lot of kids love this dish.
I have a teething 13 month old who hasn’t been eating lately because his mouth hurts. I tried this recipe tonight and he ate it all up!!! I am so happy he loved it!!!
Hi Lacey! Aww I’m so glad he enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
I’m trying out new things for my children’s lunches and I came across this. I’m from the Midwest where eggs are generally a breakfast item and served hot. I see that you allow the meal to cool before closing the box. These items are not heated back up for lunch? I’m wondering how the eggs will be received when served cool. Thank you! I’m interested in trying these for myself, too!
Hi Carisa! I’m so happy to hear you’re trying out new things with/for your children!
Yes, I allow the meal to cool completely so that when you close the lunch box lid, it won’t create condensation, and then possibly food goes bad (bacteria likes warm and wet environment).
Japanese lunch box (bento) is meant to be enjoyed at room temperature. We choose the dishes that taste good at room temperature. The meals are usually seasoned slightly stronger so it is not bland at room temperature. And this dish in general is more on the sweet side, so the kids love it.
Hope you and your children enjoy(ed) this dish. 🙂
What a nice looking bowl of lunch or dinner! I like how simple and pretty this looks! I will be making this for lunch this week : ) Thank you for the easy to follow pictures and directions
Hi Anna! I hope you enjoy this recipe! Just FYI, you may think it’s more on sweeter side but that’s how it usually taste. Feel free to adjust. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your recipes. It’s a big help.
Hi Hilda! Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m glad my recipes have been helpful. 🙂
Great recipe!!!! reminds me of when I lived in Japan for sure <3
I'd only say put a little less sugar, I love sweet but it was juuuust a little too much.
Hi Allison! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! 🙂
My 2 yr old (well he will be 2 next week) loves this dish! Today I made it but I didn’t have ground chicken so I used some left over shredded kalua pork and he went nuts for it!
Hi Lacey! Happy Early Birthday to your son! I’m so happy he enjoyed this dish! Thank you for trying this recipe. 🙂
Absolutely delicious, and so easy to make. Thanks for another great recipe.
It was also very beautiful to serve.
Thank you so much Matthew! This tastes delicious even when it’s at room temperature (because the meat has sweet and salty taste) so it’s perfect for lunch box too. Thank you for your kind feedback!
just like home! thank you 🙂
Hi Sam! Wonderful! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I loved this recipt, but having a hard time keeping the chicken moist, how do I keep it from being dry from overcooking them (while waiting for the liquid to dries up)?
thank you!
Hi Catherine! Maybe the cut of ground chicken you cook is not fatty. I think that’s the only thing I can think of. Yours is probably more lean with breast meat. I buy my ground chicken from a Japanese grocery store and I don’t think it tells how lean it is but it has pretty good fat in it (white parts). If you are mincing your own with food processor etc, add more chicken thighs. Hope that helps!
Hi Nami, I made this last night experimenting with adding the cornstarch to the ground chicken before cooking, and it works like magic! 😊 it was a win with my toddler and 1yo. Thank you for replying!
Hi Catherine! I’m so happy to hear you made it work! Thanks so much for your feedback. 🙂
This is absolutely delicious!! I replaced the sake with rice wine vinegar as I couldn’t find cooking sake at the grocery store. So easy to cook and a wonderful comfort food for a cold rainy day!
Hi Tiffany! Thank you for trying this recipe and I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂 Just FYI, “rice wine vinegar” or “rice vinegar” is a vinegar and not alcohol like rice wine. It’s almost like you’re adding red wine vinegar instead of red wine. The taste profile is a bit different. So if you can’t find sake, use dry sherry (closest white wine) or Chinese rice wine (probably easier to find in the Asian market). The alcohol removes the unwanted smell from meat and fish and you will see most Japanese recipes use sake in cooking. 🙂
Ohh okay! Thank you for letting me know, I’m going to try a different grocery store because I’m determined go make authentic Japanese food haha! Next time I make this with cooking sake I’ll be sure to let you know how it was!!
You’re very welcome. Feel free to ask me if you have any question. 🙂
So easy to make and I substituted the veggies to cut sugar snap peas – my family loved it.
Hi Cathy! Yay! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. 🙂