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By Request
Betty Shimabukuro
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A 25-year merger of BBQ and donburi
Today is my 25th wedding anniversary. How about that? Life sure speeds past when you're busy livin' it.
When we got married, my best dish was somen -- Japanese cold noodles -- which I made with a bottled sauce diluted 5-to-1. I still make somen this way, but I own many, many more cookbooks, so we do eat things, on occasion, that do not involve bottles.
Twenty-five years, spread over eight homes in three states. Three children, none with a criminal record. Not a bad record of adventure for a quarter-century partnership.
Through it all, my husband can be counted on for many things. For one, in a Japanese restaurant he will almost always order Oyako Donburi. He can have a million choices, including 50 different sushis, and he will pick the bowl of rice with the slivers of chicken cooked in broth and set in egg.
It's warm, comforting and oh-so-Japanese. Just like him, except for the Japanese part. Rob is from Guam, where we met, earned our first newspaper jobs and made the decision of matrimony. Thus, the barbecued chicken.
Whenever Rob cooks at home, he makes Guam-style barbecued chicken, which if you've never had it, is slightly spicy, lemony and nothing like teriyaki. He is quite expert at it, to the point that on my side of the family, his is the standard to which we cannot even aspire. And he always serves it with rice (plain, steamed) and corn (canned).
He is rock like that way, in manner as well as culinary style, a trait to which I attribute our financial stability and the fact that our kids have common sense and no criminal records. Did I mention that already?
My style, on the other hand is more like, "Let's try something new!" which is reflected in the way I balance the checkbook -- or not.
Anyway, for you dear, on this special day, a recipe for Oyako Donburi, although I do not plan to make it tonight. Tonight I expect a fine meal prepared by someone other than me. And, no offense, I hope it does not involve canned corn.
But I do pledge to spend the next 25 years making this perfect.
Oyako Donburi
"Japanese Cooking Hawaii Style" by Muriel Miura (Mutual Publishing, 2007, $26.95)
9 cups hot cooked rice
1 pound boneless chicken, cut in thin slivers
4-1/2 cups chicken broth
6 small bamboo shoots, slivered
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1/2 cup minced green onions
6 eggs, beaten
Simmer chicken in broth 5 minutes.
Add bamboo shoots, onion, salt, sugar, soy sauce and mirin. Bring to boil. Add green onion. Pour in beaten egg. Cover and cook over low heat 30 seconds. Serve over hot rice. Serves 6.
Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 530 calories, 8 g total fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 270 mg cholesterol, 2,000 mg sodium, 77 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 8 g sugar, 31 g protein.
Send queries along with name and phone number to: "By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813. Or send e-mail to
bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com