WEAST

Hi everyone, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve been mentioned here in the past, and from now on I’ll be making posts of my own.  I’m not quite knowledgeable enough to be considered a foodie, but one thing’s for sure – I love food and I love cooking. As a science student working in a chemistry lab, I have a certain fascination with seeing materials transform. I’m nowhere near as thoughtful or creative as my partner bubblyjiggly here, nor am I experienced enough to make such insightful observations. However, I’m learning, and I invite you to join me on my quest of culinary exploration.

Regardless, that’s enough about me; let’s talk about food.

I’m sure all of you have heard of the term donburi, or its short form, don. Essentially, it is a rice bowl meal, where a topping of meat, vegetables, or whatever you want is placed on top of the rice. In North America, some common ones you may see are Chicken Teriyaki Don, Tempura Don, Unagi Don, and Oyako Don. The donburi I cooked today for sure isn’t traditional and may seem like a Westernized ripoff pretending to be Japanese, but I assure you, Japanese people do eat things like this. I present you with Tuna Omelette Don.

How do I know that Japanese people eat something that looks as sketchy as this? Because I can’t take the credit for the idea. Actually, I stole it from a cookbook from Japan. If you’re going to check out the book, reading Japanese is unfortunately a requirement. However, I will most likely be making more donburi from this book in the future, so watch out for those!

The result? Well, it might not look like the most delicious meal out there, but it sure was tasty enough for me to devour it in under five minutes.

Here is the recipe, if you want to make it, too.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 can of flaked white tuna (120 g drained weight), partially drained
2 eggs, beaten
1½ tbsp oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tbsp mirin
1 tbsp mayonnaise
2 bowls (about 1½ cups) of hot, cooked rice

Method:
1. Heat ½ tbsp of the oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add the tuna, with a little bit of the juices, into the frying pan and stir until hot. Splash in the soy sauce and mirin and stir until combined. Remove from the heat and add the mayonnaise. Stir and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining tbsp of oil in the frying pan over medium heat. Add the eggs and swirl around the pan if necessary to cover the bottom of the pan evenly. Once the edges of the egg have set but the middle is still half-cooked, add the tuna. Spread it out evenly to cover half the egg in a semi-circle shape. Fold the empty half of the egg over the tuna, and fry a little while longer until the bottom of the egg is golden. Remove from the frying pan and cut in half.
3. Put each half onto a bowl of hot rice and serve hot. Enjoy!

Now, I know that there aren’t any vegetables in this dish, which doesn’t quite make it a complete meal. However, I did cook a spinach dish (stir friedwith garlic, onion, green onion, and Tianjin preserved vegetable) to make up for it.

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