I’m an absent-minded cottonheadedninnymuggins. Yes, I am. I cooked a fabulous Japanese meal and forgot to take pictures. It was just one of those days I suppose….
My boyfriend and I left the house with much excitement to go to eat at a restaurant I’ve been dying to try in Chicago and then visit the Shedd Aquarium (which I have yet to do). I have a tendency to look up the menu of any eating place I’m about to visit to get a comprehensive view in order to make a satisfying decision. As I settled down to do so on the train, I found that said restaurant was CLOSED. I teared up on the inside. We then decided to try and find something of the same cuisine calibre close to Union Station. Long story short and without being too disparaging, it’s safe to say I had one of the worst meals e.v.e.r. Deciding to ignore the hate vibes my stomach was spewing at me, we pressed on to She’d Aquarium— where the line was 2.5 hours long just to get tickets. We didn’t have that kind of time, so we turned right back around to go to Union Station. So this is what I saw of Shedd:
Whales are big.
On the way back, providence assigned us the cab driver from hell. Personally, I felt like I was back home in Bombay, India, because that’s how the cabs operate there. So while the boyfriend was clenching the edge of his seat, probably thanking the seatbelt gods above, I was having a hard time controlling my laughter. Especially when the Indian cab driver tried to swear at a few people who (rightfully) honked at him, but it came out in an awkward mix of Hinglish (Hindi+English).
By the time we came home, I guess my mind was too cloudy or shaken from the events and cab ride that I completely spaced on taking pictures. All except one of the final dish!
And so, without further ado, on with the cooking!
Ingredients for Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice
- 2 cups white rice
- 1 tbs. vegetable oil
- 4 scallions, chopped
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ tablespoon white sugar (or 2 tbs. brown sugar)
- dark sesame oil (there’s a reason there’s no measurement)
I started off the same as always, getting the menial labor out of the way. This involved slicing the chicken into small, manageable strips. Or as I now like to call them, ‘chopstick friendly’! Then I chopped my scallions.
Setting the chicken aside, boil your rice. Add ¼ cups of water more than you usually would when you boil the rice, so that it is sitting in a little moisture when complete. This will help later. Set aside.
Sauté the scallions and then simmer them in chicken broth. Add the spinach and carrots. I happened to use frozen spinach. I found that I did not have shredded carrots but I did find a rainbow salad mix in the fridge, which I contemplated for a moment and then threw into the pan. FYI: successful decision.
Stir in the sugar and soy sauce. Add the chicken and simmer until the chicken has completely cooked. The signal is when the meat is no longer pink.
Break the eggs and whip them in a bowl. Add some salt and pepper for taste and pour into a hot skillet with a little oil to create an omelet. Shred the omelet and toss it through the chicken and sauce.
Turn your attention back to the rice and grab your sesame oil. If all went well, the rice should be just a little sticky from that drop of additional water you added while boiling. Pour the sesame oil on top of the rice and simultaneously mix it in. The rice should turn brown and sticky. Don’t pour too much, just enough to coat the majority of the rice. Mixing it in with the additional moisture it already held should do the trick.
Serve the chicken and eggs on top of the rice! To fancy it up a little, add some sesame seeds (white or black) to the rice.
Chicken and eggs in the sauce
You can’t tell but the rice has taken on a brown tint from the sesame oil. The flavor is spectacular!
Grab those chopsticks and dig in!
Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup!
