Soboro don (ground meat bowl)
What is sorobo don (ground meat bowl)?
Soboro don (ground meat bowl) is one of well known Japanese rice dishes. Soboro is fine crumbled meat or eggs. Hence soboro don represents often seasoned ground meat and scrambled eggs on rice. You can make soboro don if you have some ground meat, eggs and some green vegetables. So this dish is easy to make and is friendly to your wallet.
When our children were small, I cooked it often. Because it is easy to eat and children like the sweet and savory taste of meat and eggs. Further it seems that the colorful dish (brown, yellow and green) appealed to our children, as our kids ate well every time. Of course grownups like the dish as well. Therefore I still cook soboro don regularly.
Which ground meat, beef, pork or chicken?
Actually you can use any kind of ground meat for meat soboro, although many recipes show chicken ground meat. I often use the ground meat mixed beef and pork. Each ground meat is equally tasty. It depends on your preference.
Usually I cook the ground meat and regularly stir it with whisk to make fine soboro. In Japan people use 5-6 chop sticks to make the meat soboro. I thought it might be difficult to use chop sticks in other countries. For alternative I tried to use a whisk and it works very well. You can make finer soboro by using a whisk than chop sticks.
Regarding the texture of soboro, some people like fine soboro and others like rough soboro. If you like rough one, don’t use a whisk or chop sticks, and stir the ground meat with spatula.
Serving idea
Since Soboro don doesn’t contain much vegetables, miso soup with lots of vegetables and/or a vegetable side dish will be the best to accompany it. Vegetable pickles are also fine to serve with.
Sometimes I put meat soboro, shredded sea weed (Nori) and chopped green onion on the rice and serve with vegetable miso soup as side dish. So soboro don without scrambled egg is satisfying as well. Meat soboro is a versatile item. For example, you can add it to an omelet and use it as a spring roll filling. Try to use it in different dishes.
For how to cook Japanese rice and Miso soup, please click links below.
Soboro don (ground meat bowl)
Equipment
- Pot, microwave oven safe bowl
Ingredients
- 300 gram Ground meat
- 2 teaspoon Grated ginger
- 3 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon Sake or Chinese rice wine or sherry
- 3 tablespoon Water
- 3 tablespoon Mirin
- 2 tablespoon Sugar
- 4 large egg
- 1 tablespoon Sugar (for scrambled eggs)
- 1 tablespoon Mirin (for scrambled eggs)
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt (for scrambled eggs)
- 30-50 gram Frozen green peas
- 3 servings cooked rice
Instructions
- To make meat soboro : Put all ingredients (ground meat, ginger, soy sauce, sake, water, mirin and sugar) in a pot. Mix well with a whisk.
- Set the pot over the medium heat and keep stirring the meat mixture.
- Keep stirring until the liquid is almost evaporated.
- To make scrambled egg with microwave oven: Add all ingredients (eggs, sugar, mirin and salt) to microwave safe bowl. Put the bowl in the microwave oven and cook for about 1.5 minutes with 750w. Take the bowl out from the microwave oven and stir with a whisk.
- Put it back in the microwave oven and cook 15 – 30 seconds again. Remove the bowl from oven and stir with a whisk. This repeats until the egg mixture becomes scrambled egg. Be careful not to overcook. If you cook too long, the some part of the eggs will turn grayish.
- Put frozen green peas in a microwave safe bowl and cover with cling film. Cook for one minute with 750W. Check if the green peas are cooked. If not, cook further 10 – 15 seconds.
- Put the rice in a bowl and arrange soboro meat, egg and green peas on top of the rice.
Notes
You can keep meat soboro for a couple of days in the fridge or one month in the freezer. After cooling down to room temperature, put the meat soboro in a clean container with lid or plastic bag, and store in the fridge or freezer.
Thanks for reading and enjoy Soboro don (ground meat bowl). Bon Appetit!