Japanese Lunch: Oyako-don

Many years ago, after college, I spent a couple of years in Tokyo. I went there with no idea of what I was getting in to - it's hard to believe at this point, but I had never even tried sushi before my plane landed.

I was lucky - I love Japanese food, but it was an adventure. I had never tried of it, but I guess I probably did think I would eat sushi every day for lunch. Turns out that sushi isn't an every day kind of lunch - there's a lot of other food that is more typical as a Japanese lunch.

My first year in Tokyo, I found a great little noodle place just under the Tamachi train station. That said, I don't know if I ever had noodles there - instead I had Oyako-don. Don-buri (don) is the other thing that is typically served at a Japanese noodle place - and all it is is something on top of rice.

Oyako-don is chicken and egg on type of rice - almost like an omelet with chicken chunks. It has a bit of a dashi-type sauce. And it's awesome. It tastes so good. But, to be totally honest, I don't think taste was the only reason I ate it so much - it's also the name

Oya ko

Oya is parent; ko is child. The dish translates directly as Parent/Child over rice. It's a little disturbing, but I rather liked the cleverness - and did I mention that it tastes really good.