Soboro Don with Chinese Pickled Mustard Green and Sunny Side Up Egg

Soboro don is one of the traditional Japanese rice dishes. Just like curry or udon, Japanese families also make soboro often, usually served with other vegetables to balance the nutrition.

I borrowed the idea from the soboro rice served at Raku in Las Vegas, adding Chinese pickled mustard green on the side. Of course with my own twist and what's even better? Topped with sunny side up eggs with the yolks still runny!

Ingredients (for 3 to 4 portions)?

Ground chicken -
1 lb of ground chicken
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of tsuyu (the kind usually used as soup base for udon dishes)
1 tablespoon of mirin
2 teaspoons of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
Some chicken oil

Pickled mustard green -
3 small bundles of Chinese pickled mustard green
2 fresh red chilies
2 garlic cloves
Some olive oil

Sunny side up egg -
2 eggs
Some olive oil
Some sea salt

Some steamed white rice

How?

First thing first, what is Chinese pickled mustard green?

You can find it at Asian grocery stores or buy the already seasoned and chopped version at an Asian restaurant that sells beef noodles (pickled mustard green is usually served with this popular Taiwanese food). 

It requires some trial and error to make your own pickled mustard green. Basically you take the Chinese mustard green and slightly dry  the leaves under the sun before preserving in the container. During the process, heavy rocks are used in order to drive out the liquid to the bottom of the container. With series of chemical reactions, you'll get a pungent and sour tasting pickled veggie in the end. Enough said, it's easier to just get a pack from the grocery store.

Rinse the pickled mustard green under water, pat dry, and chop into small pieces. Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves. Remove the stems from the chilies and finely chop them.

Drizzle some olive oil till fully coat the bottom of the pan. Turn to medium heat and toss in the garlic and chilies. Cook just right before the garlic gets burned, you might need to turn down the heat a little bit to prevent fast burning. Add in chopped pickled mustard greens and cook for about 3 minutes.

This time I'm using it as a side for the soboro don. However, you can always mix in some ground pork instead and make this mustard green a different dish.

Now let's move on to the ground chicken. Drizzle some chicken oil to the pan. You can also substitute chicken oil with olive oil to save some troubles. Turn to medium high heat and add in grated ginger. Cook till the aroma comes out, about 20 seconds.

Add in ground chicken and give it a quick stir. Add in the remaining seasonings for the ground chicken and cook till all the sauce has been fully absorbed by the meat. Remember to do the taste test and see if more soy sauce is needed.

Drizzle some oil into another pan to cook the sunny side up eggs. I also sprinkled some sea salt on top of the eggs to brighten up the flavor.

To assemble the dish, scoop some steamed white rice into a bowl. Add the ground chicken in the middle and carefully add the pickled mustard green on the edge. I trimmed the sunny side up egg and transfer it to the center of the ground chicken.

Such a comforting meal. Thanks Raku for the inspiration!