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What is "America-don" to you?


cteavin

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I'm making a YouTube video this week on Oyakodon (oya = parent, ko= child, don=rice bowl) or Chicken and Egg over rice. I made (and ate) five today. As I was doing it, I wondered how I could change it to make it "American" but still keep the concept: Boiling/Poaching meat with egg and serving it over rice. I was wondering how to American-ize the flavors and wondered if any of you had any idea, humorous or serious. 

 

The dish is flavored with dashi, soy sauce, and mirin (and/or sugar and sake). 

 

 

Off hand I was thinking Chicken and Bacon, dashi, mirpoix or 

Chicken, bacon, beef broth, mirpoix. 

 

Any thoughts on what flavor profile or ingredients can "American-ize" a dish? (Your reply doesn't have to be just about this dish. I'm curious what the American flavor profile means to other people.)

Edited by cteavin (log)
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I’d go with an Eggs Benedict approach: rice bowl, topped with crispy fried (chicken) bacon with a poached egg in the middle, drizzled with sauce Hollandaise & chives on top.

Edited by Duvel (log)
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18 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

Cover it with cheese 🇺🇸

Or more accurately, "processed cheese food product." :P

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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I had a Korean roommate one summer in college and she asked me to explain "American food" to her. I pointed out that it largely depends on where you live in the country and your ethnic background because we're a big melting pot. I grew up with "standard" dinners being breaded chicken or pork with veggies & potato, but also spaghetti and meatballs or cavatelli with broccoli. Jewish holidays called for brisket and potato pancakes. If we went to my (Italian) grandparents' house, we'd have "Sunday sauce" (not that she called it that), and a multicourse meal with salad after dinner, and soup starting it.  So American food is big servings because we have a lot of agriculture and money so food becomes plentiful and heavy on meat. But it's influenced heavily by the part of the country and ethnicity. I didn't grow up on "Tex-Mex," but we still eat that and it's American southwest food. 

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Joanna G. Hurley

"Civilization means food and literature all round." -Aldous Huxley

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On the serious side - why do you want to dumb it down or add whatever "American" ingredients are? It is simple comfort food. I'd provide alternatives for making your own dashi. Also in your picture the egg looks almost raw which is not, in my experience, within American comfort zones.

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6 hours ago, cteavin said:

I'm making a YouTube video this week on Oyakodon (oya = parent, ko= child, don=rice bowl) or Chicken and Egg over rice. I made (and ate) five today. As I was doing it, I wondered how I could change it to make it "American" but still keep the concept: Boiling/Poaching meat with egg and serving it over rice. I was wondering how to American-ize the flavors and wondered if any of you had any idea, humorous or serious. 

 

The dish is flavored with dashi, soy sauce, and mirin (and/or sugar and sake). 

 

 

Aside from dashi and mirin, the ingredients for oyakodon are not super "exotic." Americans are maybe used to using chicken breast more than chicken thigh. IME, oyakodon uses the chicken thigh.

 

I guess the one thing you couldn't leave out would be the scrambled egg that holds everything together on top of the rice (or whatever grain you wanted to use).

 

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8 hours ago, Duvel said:

I’d go with an Eggs Benedict approach: rice bowl, topped with crispy fried (chicken) bacon with a poached egg in the middle, drizzled with sauce Hollandaise & chives on top.

 

That really does sound amazing. I might give this a go! 

 

5 hours ago, chromedome said:

Or more accurately, "processed cheese food product." :P

 

Is "Velveta" still a thing? When I was a kid, it was the Holy Terror in my home: "If you kids don't behave, you're getting Velveta tonight". 

 

5 hours ago, heidih said:

On the serious side - why do you want to dumb it down or add whatever "American" ingredients are? It is simple comfort food. I'd provide alternatives for making your own dashi. Also in your picture the egg looks almost raw which is not, in my experience, within American comfort zones.

 

Oh, I think it's be funny. In my video I have three variations of Oyakodon and thought "America-don" would be a funny way to cap it. At the same time, I'm genuinly curious as to what people think "American" is. My gut reaction was to add bacon. :)

 

 

4 hours ago, scamhi said:

how about a cheeseburger-don? Using ground beef, cheese, egg etc...

Under what name do you post your you-tube videos?

 

Oh, I LOVE this. I could go to the local McD's and buy one. :) 

I'm under "made by you and i" on YouTube. 

If you're interested, 

 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

I think I'll go all out and NOT bash my country's food in this topic.  Something built around Chicken and Dumplings or blue crab, sweet corn, and cornbread dumplings could be delicious and interesting.  

 

I never thought of Blue Crab as part of US cuisine. I always associate it Taiwan and China/Hong Kong. 

 

Cornbread dumplings... You took me back to the 70's with that: It's been a long, long time. :)

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5 minutes ago, cteavin said:

 

I never thought of Blue Crab as part of US cuisine. I always associate it Taiwan and China/Hong Kong. 

 

Cornbread dumplings... You took me back to the 70's with that: It's been a long, long time. :)

Growing up on the Eastern Shore of VA and MD, I think of blue crabs as being a HUGE part of the cuisine.  

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Hah! My first thought was 'don't mess with one of my favorite dishes' I lived just a couple years in my early teens in Japan (Tsukimino Jr high & Zama High!) and that was and is a comforting favorite! I think what you really want is something that a) can be made in a similar manner to the Oyakodon  (saute) and b) be brothy enough to seep into the rice a little. 

 

why not do a like a succotash topped with crab in a tomato-y broth  & do the egg the same as kind of a reference back to the chicken & egg bowl top with maybe a cajun remoulade & some green onions! mm mmm!!

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6 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

Just keep the oyakudon as it is, and serve with a two-litre cup of Mountain Dew.

 

That ought to do it.

Ha! or work some Hires root beer or Coke/Pepsi into the broth

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