Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl)

Why not try the colorful and nutritious Soboro Don? With its combination of ground chicken, egg, and a green vegetable, each ingredient offers a unique flavor that pairs perfectly with rice.

Jump to:

• What is Soboro Don?
• Recommended cuts for ground meat
• Options for green Vegetables
• Ingredients
• Step-by-step instructions
• Tips on how to make
• Recipe Card

What is Soboro Don?

Soboro Don is a rice bowl generally topped with three ingredients: ground meat (meat soboro), finely scrambled eggs (egg soboro), and a green vegetable. Soboro refers to ground meat, fish, or eggs that have been simmered or stir-fried until finely minced, and Don is a shortened term for 'Donburi,' which means a rice bowl. The most commonly used ingredient for soboro is chicken.

In Japan, there is no other famous rice bowl topped with three different colors, so it is also called 'sanshoku don (three-colored rice bowl).' The flavors of the three ingredients complement rice nicely, ensuring a satisfying meal. It's a hearty and nutritious rice bowl.

Recommended cuts for ground meat

The ground meat used for soboro don includes chicken, as well as beef and pork. While chicken is commonly used, you can enjoy different flavors by changing the type of meat used.

For chicken, thigh meat is recommended, while for beef or pork, lean cuts are a good choice. For more information, please refer to this page.

Options for green Vegetables

In soboro don, green vegetables such as spinach and peas are commonly used. The recipe on this page uses spinach because it has a high nutritional value, but you can make it even more easily using peas. In that case, you only need to blanch the peas for about 1 minute and drain the excess water (no seasoning required).

You can also use another green vegetable or make a two-colored soboro don with just ground meat and eggs, without adding any vegetables.

Ingredients

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Step-by-step instructions

🕒 Total 25 mins

Steps for cooking spinach

Step 1
Fill a large pot with plenty of water and bring to a boil.

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Step 2
When the water comes to a boil, add salt (approximately 1% of the water's volume, not included in the recipe) and put the spinach in the pot, starting from the root end. Boil only the stems for a minute, then submerge the spinach leaves in the water and boil them for 30 seconds.

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Step 3
Remove the spinach from the pot and cool under running water. When the spinach has cooled, squeeze out the water well.

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Step 4
Cut the spinach into 1.6 inch (4cm) pieces. Put the spinach in a bowl and toss it with sugar and soy sauce.

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Steps to make chicken soboro

Step 5
Peel and grate the ginger. Mix the ground chicken, grated ginger, and sake in a pot.

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Step 6
Heat the pot over medium heat and cook the ground chicken, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming.

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Step 7
When the ground chicken turns white in color, mix in sugar and soy sauce. Simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

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Steps to make egg soboro

Step 8
Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them with sake, sugar, and salt.

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Step 9
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Once the pan is heated, pour the egg mixture from the bowl into the pan. After the eggs are partially cooked, stir them rapidly with chopsticks until they are fully cooked.

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Step to serve

Step 10
Serve the rice in a bowl and arrange the spinach, chicken soboro, and egg soboro on top of it in an appealing and colorful manner.

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To Store

You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Tips on how to make

For Spinach

• Boil the spinach in a large pot of salted water. The purpose of using plenty of water is to remove the harsh taste from the spinach, and salt is added to prevent the color of the spinach from fading.
• Spinach should be boiled starting from the stems. Then, boil the leaves to ensure even cooking.

For chicken soboro

• Ground chicken should be cooked over medium heat or lower. Using high heat will cause the meat to become tough.
• Keep stirring the ground chicken until it is cooked through. Continuing to stir will prevent the ground chicken from becoming lumpy and losing its appearance and texture.

For egg soboro

• When the egg mixture is partially cooked, stir it rapidly with chopsticks. This will make a finely egg soboro.

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