Tori Soboro Gohan is a very simple dish of ground chicken seasoned in soy sauce, sugar, mirin and ginger juice, served with finely scrambled eggs over hot steamed rice. Also known as Soboro Don, this dish is typically garnished with nori (dried seaweed) and sesame seeds.
Soboro Gohan is a popular dish in Japan and is often served as a quick and easy meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is also a common bento (lunchbox) item that can be found at convenience stores and other food establishments in Japan. The ground meat in a Soboro Gohan can be chicken or beef, but the one I’m making is with ground chicken.
By the way, “tori” is the Japanese word for chicken. Here is how you can make Soboro Gohan at home. The recipe below contains two key components in this Japanese dish, namely: seasoned ground chicken and scrambled eggs.
Tori Soboro Gohan
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1/2 lb ground chicken
3 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS sugar
3 TBS mirin
1 tsp ginger juice
4 eggs
1 TBS sugar
1/2 TBS mirin
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups steamed Japanese rice
Nori seaweed or furikake, as garnish
Sesame seeds, as garnish
Method
1. Put ground chicken, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, ginger juice in a small pan.
2. Simmer the meat on medium-low heat, stirring constantly with chopsticks until moisture is almost gone.
3. Set aside while preparing scrambled eggs.
4. To make scrambled eggs, beat eggs in a medium pan together with sugar, mirin, salt.
5. Put on medium-low heat and scramble eggs finely with chopsticks until cooked.
6. Serve steamed rice into four deep bowls. Arrange chicken soboro and scrambled egg in two different sections on top of the rice.
7. Garnish with dried seaweed (nori or furikake) and sesame seeds if desired.
It is common to serve Soboro Gohan with some green vegetables on the side. So I made Stir-fried Baby Kai Lan and Willow Mushrooms to be served alongside my Soboro Gohan.
*rubbing a full tummy* The recipe above yields 4 servings so I had plenty of leftover. Since Soboro Gohan can be reheated the next day, I packed the extra servings to keep in the fridge.
The best version of Soboro Gohan I ever had was at Tori Shin in uptown Manhattan. It was so memorable that it inspired me to write this recipe. The restaurant version left such a deep impression on me. I remember the ground chicken was very finely minced and the seasoning was soaked in every fine granule. The accompanying scrambled eggs was divinely fluffy and soft. I recall it was sweet and I detected a hint of sake aroma. The one-dish meal was truly an exquisite experience. Every bite was packed with flavor and a beautiful medley of textures.
Naturally my humble homemade attempt cannot compare to the incredibly masterful version served at the restaurant, but Soboro Gohan is simple enough to make at home. With superior ingredients and continued practice in the kitchen, perhaps one day I can reach that high quality of Soboro Gohan.
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