Sanshoku Gohan — Three-Colour Rice Bowls

Ingredients

• For the iri-tamago (egg soboro)
• 3 eggs, whisked
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 pinch fine salt
• For the niku soboro (meat soboro)
• 200 g ground chicken
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
• For the green element
• 200 g edamame, blanched snow peas, or green beans, edamame shelled and blanched; snow peas blanched whole; green beans blanched and finely shredded
• To serve
• 800 g cooked Japanese short-grain rice, hot, freshly cooked

Method

1. 1
   Whisk the eggs with the sugar, salt, and mirin until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is uniform. Place a dry non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the egg mixture. Using four or five chopsticks held together as a single implement, stir constantly in a figure-eight motion, breaking up the egg as it sets. Continue for 8–10 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary to avoid browning, until the egg has broken into fine, separate, dry granules with a sandy texture — no clumps, no moisture visible.
2. 2
   Remove the iri-tamago from the pan and set aside. Wipe the pan clean. Combine the ground chicken with the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and grated ginger directly in the pan before placing it on heat. Set over medium heat. Using chopsticks held together, stir constantly in a figure-eight motion, breaking the meat into the finest possible granules. This is where the dish lives or dies: high heat will scorch the exterior of each grain while leaving the interior wet; insufficient heat will produce clumped, damp soboro. Maintain medium heat with constant motion until the meat soboro is completely dry and aromatic — no pooled liquid remains in the pan, and each grain is separate.
3. 3
   Prepare the green element. Blanch edamame, snow peas, or shredded green beans briefly in well-salted boiling water, then refresh immediately in cold water and drain thoroughly. The vegetables must be completely dry before plating; residual moisture will bleed colour onto the rice and adjacent components.
4. 4
   Divide the hot rice between four bowls. Working quickly, arrange the three components in distinct, clean sections over the surface of the rice — egg soboro in one third, meat soboro in one third, and the green vegetable in the final third. Each colour must remain visually separated at the moment of service. The seasoning of each soboro should read slightly strong at this stage; the rice will moderate the flavour when the diner mixes the bowl.