Sanshoku-don (Three-Color Rice Bowls)

By J. Kenji López-Alt

Updated May 21, 2024

  • Joel Goldberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(296)
Comments
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Sanshoku-don is a classic Japanese comfort food that is equally delicious served hot and fresh or at room temperature, making it a hugely popular choice for bento-style school lunches. The base recipe combines ground chicken (other meats or vegetarian alternatives like ground tofu or plant-based ground meat work just fine) seasoned with the classic Japanese savory-sweet combination of soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar, and vigorously scrambled eggs served on top of Japanese short-grain rice. Add a simple green vegetable – frozen peas, steamed slivered snap peas or green beans, or simply sautéed spinach or kale – and you’ve got a full meal in a bowl.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

FOR THE CHICKEN

  • 1 pound ground chicken (see Tip)

  • 1 tablespoon finely minced or grated fresh ginger 

  • 3 tablespoons shoyu

  • 2 tablespoons sake

  • 2 tablespoons mirin

  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

  • 2 tablespoons water or dashi

FOR THE EGGS

  • 4 large eggs

  • 2 tablespoons mirin

  • Salt

FOR GREENS AND ASSEMBLY

  • Salt

  • 1 cup frozen peas or French-cut green beans, or 3 packed cups fresh baby spinach, baby kale or other tender greens (optional, see Tip)

  • 6 cups cooked Japanese short-grain white rice, such as Koshihikari or Calrose

  • Handful of sliced scallions

  • Beni-shoga (see Tip)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare the chicken: Combine chicken, ginger, shoyu, sake, mirin, sugar and water in a large nonstick or carbon-steel skillet, saucepan or wok. Set the pan over medium heat and cook, using chopsticks or a spoon to stir and break the chicken down into very small pieces, about 5 minutes. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the liquid in the pan evaporates and the chicken starts to brown slightly, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and set it aside.

  2. Step 2

    Prepare the eggs: Rinse out the pan (you don’t need to dry it). Combine the eggs, mirin and a pinch of salt in the now-empty pan. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the eggs are just set but still very moist, 2 to 3 minutes. (There will be some sticking to the pan.) Transfer the eggs to a bowl and set aside.

  3. Step 3

    Prepare the greens (optional): Wipe out and rinse the pan (you don’t need to dry it), add 1 cup water, season with salt to taste, and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add the frozen vegetables or fresh greens, and cook, stirring constantly, until just heated through but still bright green. Drain thoroughly. (If using a leafy green, set the cooked greens in a strainer over the sink, and, using a spatula, press down them to drain any extra liquid.)

  4. Step 4

    To assemble, divide the rice among 4 bowls or bento boxes. Top with chicken, eggs and greens, arranging each ingredient so it covers a third of the rice. Sprinkle with scallions and add a pinch of beni-shoga to the center of each. Serve hot bowls immediately, or close bento boxes (see Tips).

Tips

  • You can use any ground meat or vegetarian ground meat alternative in place of the chicken. Lean meat works best for this dish, but you can always drain excess fat off the meat in Step 4, before spooning the meat over the rice.

  • Beni-shoga is bright red or pink slivered pickled ginger that can be found in Japanese markets or well-stocked supermarkets. You can also use sushi gari or other types of Japanese pickles if you prefer.

  • For best flavor, don’t refrigerate bento boxes after packing, just make sure to consume within four hours of packaging the hot food for safety. The individual toppings can also be prepared in advance and reheated in the microwave until piping hot before packing and closing bento boxes.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
296 user ratings
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Comments

Family Favorite

This is a recipe we repeat often. My two young girls can't get enough. I always make extra eggs because they just gobble them up. The grownups like to top with Sriracha mayo to spice it up. Quick, easy, nutritious and things I generally keep stocked.

Mary Anne

Halved the recipe, for two. Will certainly cook again, and certainly cook more egg. No need to add sugar in the chicken, as mirin is already sweet. We didnt have ginger pickle, so i pickled thinly sliced cucumber, grated carrot and thinly sliced (lengthways) spring onions in 1 tsp white sugar and 1.5 tbs vinegar for 30 mins, then drained, to top the dish. Worked very well.

HanTran

I would be inclined not to rinse the pan either time it is suggested here.

Suri

Make it even easier and only put the chicken and eggs on the rice (soboro don) and then have a clementine, broccoli, salad, etc on the side, and skip the green beans. I have always found that the veggies get the rice a little too wet for the bento to hold up.

kkseattle

Super bland. What we put in our kids’ lunch boxes for years. Do not mistake this for anything other than the equivalent of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but it definitely has its place.

Maki

Shoyu is soy sauce in Japanese so just use any soy sauce.

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