Chicken Soboro Recipe: Tips for Making a Chicken and Egg Bowl

Donburi means “bowl” in Japanese, but it's also a catch-all term for rice bowls. There are endless varieties of this Japanese dish that incorporate vegetables, meat, seafood, and eggs cooked with flavorful seasonings—all on top of plain, steamed white rice.

Soboro donburi, or soboro don, is a Japanese rice bowl consisting of seasoned ground chicken and scrambled eggs served atop steamed rice. Soboro is a Japanese term referring to any protein (whether beef, chicken, fish, or eggs) cooked down into a fine, crumbly texture. Green vegetables, like peas or green beans, are an occasional addition to the dish.

Soboro, also known as soboro bento in some restaurants due to its popularity in bento lunch boxes, can be served warm or at room temperature for a quick lunch or dinner.

Here are a few tips to take your homemade soboro to the next level:

1. 1. Add a little color. The soboro don served at a yakitori restaurant is more likely to feature seasoned chicken over rice, but some variations offer a bit more visual appeal. Sanshoku donburi, for example, pairs the ground meat and scrambled eggs with a blanched green vegetable, typically shelled peas, snow peas, or green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces—for a tri-color presentation.
2. 2. Adjust the sweetness to preference. Traditional soboro don features a bit of sugar in both the braising liquid and the beaten eggs. The addition of sugar creates full-bodied umami throughout the entire dish—balancing out the saltiness, savory tang, and heat from the soy sauce, sake, and fresh ginger in the dish.
3. 3. Switch up the protein. The word “soboro” refers to the crumbly texture of the ground protein. While ground chicken is a staple in the dish, the kind of protein you use is up to you. Soboro don can also feature other ground meats like ground beef, ground turkey, or ground pork. You can also substitute firm tofu or seafood like shrimp.
4. 4. Aim for an even texture. Break up the ground meat into small, even pieces while it cooks to guarantee total flavor absorption and match the eggs’ fluffy curd-like texture.
5. 5. Use chopsticks to scramble the eggs. Using two chopsticks instead of a broad, flat tool, like a spatula, to scramble the eggs results in a finer, more even texture to match the ground chicken.