December 5, 2024

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Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl) そぼろ丼 • Just One Cookbook

With sweet-savory ground chicken, scrambled eggs, and green vegetables on top of fluffy steamed rice, Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl) is a Japanese comfort meal for kids and adults and is effortlessly easy to pull together!

A bowl containing Soboro Don (seasoned ground chicken and scrambled egg over rice).

Soboro Don (そぼろ丼) is an easy and delicious Japanese rice bowl with seasoned ground chicken and scrambled eggs. It’s easily one of my favorite bento lunch menus growing up!

The sweet-savory flavor of tender chicken and eggs that get mixed in with steamed rice score big on the comfort level. And what’s not to love when you can put a meal together in just 30 minutes? That’s the virtue of rice bowls! Simple, fast, and well-thought-out, you can never go wrong with it.

A bowl containing Soboro Don (seasoned ground chicken and scrambled egg over rice).

What Does Soboro Mean?

The Japanese word Soboro (そぼろ) refers to ground meat, fish, or eggs that are cooked into fine, crumbled pieces.

Often served over steamed rice and eaten together, you’ll find soboro donburi (そぼろ丼ぶり, or don for short, meaning rice bowl dish) and soboro bento (そぼろ弁当) on the menu in Japan.

Ground chicken is the most commonly used protein for this dish, so we call it tori soboro (鶏そぼろ), literally “chicken ground.”

If you happen to dine at a yakitori restaurant where grilled skewers of different parts of the chicken are served, try their soboro don. It always tastes the best as yakitori restaurants usually have the freshest and high-quality chicken.

How to Make Soboro Don

Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Ground chicken
  • Eggs
  • Seasonings: sugar, salt, mirin, sake, and soy sauce
  • Steamed rice
  • Blanched green vegetables – I used green peas, but you can also use spinach, green beans, okra, or snow peas.

Overview: Quick Steps

  1. Cook ground chicken and all the seasonings in a saucepan or frying pan.
  2. Cook scrambled eggs in a saucepan or frying pan.
  3. Serve the steamed rice in the bowl, then put seasoned ground chicken, eggs, and green vegetable over the rice.
A bowl containing Soboro Don (seasoned ground chicken and scrambled egg over rice).

4 Important Cooking Tips to Remember

1. Use a Saucepan Instead of a Frying Pan

Soboro Don

I used to use a non-stick frying pan to make this dish (Some of you may remember from my original recipe). A while ago, I accidentally used a saucepan and I was shocked at how effective it was to cook in smaller cookware! You can stir the chopsticks a bit more vigorously, which allows the eggs or ground chicken to break into even smaller bits.

2. Use Multiple Chopsticks

Cooking chopsticks

Have you tried scrambling your eggs using chopsticks? That’s how we make soboro in Japan! Hold at least 3 pairs of long chopsticks and move them vigorously to jostle the eggs into fine scrambles.

Do the same for the ground chicken!

3. No Cooking Oils Needed

Soboro Don

To make soboro, we do not use cooking oil for both eggs and ground meat. Ingredients are placed directly into the saucepan and start cooking!

Yukihira nabe (above) is a bit difficult to wash the residual egg attached to the saucepan. If you have another kind of saucepan, it should be easier to clean. But do soak it with water right after cooking!

4. Cook on Medium-Low Heat

Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl)

We always cook the eggs or ground chicken over medium-low heat. Slowly and gently cook while you stir vigorously with chopsticks. This is how you make fine scrambled eggs and ground chicken.

A bowl containing Soboro Don (seasoned ground chicken and scrambled egg over rice).

FAQs

Why do you sweeten eggs and chicken?

In Japanese cooking, you’ll find that it’s a common practice to season the eggs and meat with some sugar. The reason we do that is to bring out the flavors of the ingredients, especially when we prepare food that can be enjoyed at room temperature. The use of sugar also helps to balance the savory seasoning, so you’d achieve full umami for the meal.

Since soboro is served with bland steamed rice, the flavor of the dish would come from the well-seasoned eggs and meat.

You can choose to leave out the sugar or reduce the amount to suit your taste. But if you plan on packing soboro don into a lunch box, don’t skimp on the seasonings. Foods served at room temperature require stronger seasonings to attain the flavors.

How about other protein choices besides chicken?

You can definitely use ground pork or beef (or ground turkey). For creative variations, you can finely chop shrimp or crumble firm tofu, too!

If you’re stumped on what to make for dinner tonight, you can count on soboro don for a quicker-than-take-out option. It packs beautifully for your bento lunch box too!

Hungry for More Easy Rice Bowl Recipes?

A bowl containing Soboro Don (seasoned ground chicken and scrambled egg over rice).

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A bowl containing Soboro Don (seasoned ground chicken and scrambled egg over rice).

Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl)

With sweet-savory ground chicken and scrambled eggs on top of steamed rice, Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl) is a Japanese comfort meal for both kids and adults!

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Ingredients 

 

For the Seasoned Ground Chicken

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

Instructions 

To Cook the Ground Chicken

To Cook the Scrambled Eggs

To Assemble

  • Serve the steamed rice in individual bowls. Put the ground chicken over half of the steamed rice and the scrambled eggs on the other half. I put the green peas in the middle. Garnish with pickled ginger (kizami shoga) on top, if you desire.

Nutrition

Calories: 575 kcal · Carbohydrates: 45 g · Protein: 30 g · Fat: 28 g · Saturated Fat: 16 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 284 mg · Sodium: 861 mg · Potassium: 731 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 16 g · Vitamin A: 409 IU · Vitamin C: 7 mg · Calcium: 41 mg · Iron: 3 mg

Author: Namiko Chen

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: chicken, donburi, egg, rice bowl

©JustOneCookbook.com Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any website or social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.

Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on April 11, 2011. The pictures and content have been updated and the recipe has been slightly revised on June 21, 2022.