Donburi Sauce
Donburi sauce is the foundation of my Mom’s “-don” dishes, such as oyakodon (follow link for recipe), a chicken and egg donburi; tendon, a tempura donburi; and kakiagedon (follow link for recipe), a mixed vegetable and shrimp tempura donburi; and tanindon, a beef and egg donburi.
Because of the many uses of donburi sauce, I felt this savory and sweet sauce deserved a post all to itself. Eventually, I’ll get to each of the donburi recipes my Mom made for us, however, I’ll start with oyakodon (follow link for recipe) since I had a request from a Foodie Friend. :)
Donburi is a type of Japanese rice dish, served in a large bowl, or “donburi”, with rice on the bottom and topped with meat cooked with egg, meat, or tempura. There is a wide variety of donburi.
I called my Mom for her donburi sauce recipe and I was afraid I was going to get her typical response.
I was right.
She said in Japanese, “just simmer water, shoyu, mirin and some brown sugar together”. Hmmm, OK, thanks mom… but what about the proportions? Of course her reply was something along the lines of 1 cup water, a few tablespoons shoyu, just a little mirin and sake, and maybe 1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar.
Using my Mom’s general guidelines I attempted to make donburi sauce last night. It turned out well.
Donburi Sauce
makes sauce for 3 – 4 donburi
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 4 1/2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon mirin (sweet cooking sake)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking sake
1. In a small pot, add water and bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat. Add shoyu, mirin, and sake and let simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Add brown sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves.
I find that when I eat donburi at Japanese restaurants the sauce is typically a good balance between sweet and savory, but I prefer savory over sweet. If you’d like to make the sauce more sweet, consider adding an extra 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar, and if you’d prefer sauce that is more savory, add an extra 1/2 tablespoon shoyu. Try experimenting to get the balance of savory/sweet that you prefer.
I let the sauce cool to room temperature and stored this in the fridge so that I could make oyakodon over the weekend. The sauce will keep in the fridge 5 – 7 days.
Stay tuned for donburi recipes! Meanwhile, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave me a note. I would enjoy hearing from you.
Cheers,
Judy | Bebe Mama
- 1½ cups water
- 4 to 6 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce), to taste
- 1 tablespoon mirin (sweet cooking sake)
- 2 – 3 tablespoons brown sugar, to taste
- 1½ tablespoons cooking sake
- In a small pot, add water and bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat. Add shoyu, mirin and sake. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add brown sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves.
- If you are not using the sauce immediately, let the sauce cool to room temperature and store in the fridge up to 5 – 7 days.
I have everything but the sake to make this sauce. I can see it would a versatile sauce that I could use with all kinds of dishes. I’ll have to get bottle of sake. My sister-in-law loves sake, so she should be able to recommend a good brand.
Hi Kristi, Yikes! I have to thank you for finding a crucial typo in my blog recipe. I need to edit that. I always use cooking sake, not drinking sake. You can find cooking sake at most any Japanese or asian supermarket. I’ve actually never looked for it at the Albertsons where we shop, but it may even be at the regular supermarket in the ethnic foods section. Thank you, thank you! – Judy :)
Hey Judy! What’s the difference between mirin and cooking sake? Thanks! :)
Hi Roxan, I’ve always thought that mirin is sweeter than cooking sake. Mirin has a very mild alcohol taste, although you can still taste it, and it’s noticeably sweeter than cooking sake. Cooking sake on the other hand has a strong alcohol flavor, but no where near the alcohol flavor as traditional drinking sake. Cooking sake is also mildly sweet, but definitely not as sweet as mirin. The differences are there but it’s very subtle. :)
Hey Thanks for this. I was looking to make a vegan Donburri with Tofu. – Betsy
Hi Betsy, Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. I hope the sauce turns out to your liking. It’s quite versatile! Happy New Year!