Hot Cook Chukadon (Chinese-Style Rice Bowl)
中華丼【ホットクック】 · Chukadon
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Chukadon is one of Japan's beloved Chinese-inspired comfort dishes: pork and vegetables simmered in a lightly thickened, savory sauce and spooned over hot rice. This version is made in the Hot Cook, Sharp's automatic cooking pot, so the stir-frying and simmering happen with the lid on and no stirring from you. The napa cabbage turns soft and sweet, and the glossy starch-thickened sauce coats everything so it clings to the rice and is easy for small children to scoop up with a spoon. Seasoned with just chicken stock, soy sauce and a little sugar, it is mild enough for preschoolers yet satisfying for the whole family.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 75 griceJapanese short-grain white rice (japonica), which cooks up soft and slightly sticky. The amount listed is for uncooked rice. Substitute: Sushi rice, or another short-grain or medium-grain rice such as Calrose.
- 39 gthinly sliced pork (komagire offcuts)Small offcuts of thinly sliced pork sold cheaply in Japanese supermarkets for stir-fries and soups. Substitute: Thinly sliced pork shoulder or loin, cut into bite-size pieces.
- 13.5 gcarrot
- 21 gonion
- 33 gnapa cabbage
- 6 gfrozen corn
Seasonings
- 3.8 gsesame oil
- 0.3 gginger paste (tube)Grated ginger sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh ginger for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated ginger in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- 0.2 gchicken stockA light, Chinese-style chicken bone stock, usually made in Japan from granules. Substitute: Any light chicken stock or broth.
- 3.3 gsoy sauce
- 0.9 gsugar
- 26.3 gwater
- 2 gpotato starchJapanese katakuriko, a fine potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating food before frying. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness.
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- rice (米)
- Japanese short-grain white rice (japonica), which cooks up soft and slightly sticky. The amount listed is for uncooked rice. Substitute: Sushi rice, or another short-grain or medium-grain rice such as Calrose.
- thinly sliced pork (komagire offcuts) (豚小間)
- Small offcuts of thinly sliced pork sold cheaply in Japanese supermarkets for stir-fries and soups. Substitute: Thinly sliced pork shoulder or loin, cut into bite-size pieces.
- ginger paste (tube) (しょうが，おろしチューブ)
- Grated ginger sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh ginger for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated ginger in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- chicken stock (鶏ガラスープ)
- A light, Chinese-style chicken bone stock, usually made in Japan from granules. Substitute: Any light chicken stock or broth.
- potato starch (片栗粉)
- Japanese katakuriko, a fine potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating food before frying. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness. Read the guide: Katakuriko (Japanese Potato Starch) and What to Use Instead → Guide: japanese-school-lunch.com/articles/katakuriko-potato-starch/
Directions
- 1
Cut the pork into 2-3 cm wide pieces, the carrot into thin rectangular strips, the onion into thin slices cut to half length, and the napa cabbage into rough chunks (regular cabbage works deliciously in place of napa cabbage, too!).
- 2
Put the carrot, onion and sesame oil into the inner pot and cook for 5 minutes using the [Manual → Stir-fry] setting.
- 3
Add the pork, napa cabbage, corn, ginger paste, chicken stock powder, soy sauce, sugar, and the potato starch dissolved in the water, then cook for 15 minutes using the [Manual → Simmer → With stirring] setting.
- 4
Spoon the pork and vegetable mixture from step 3 over freshly cooked rice.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 390 kcal | 780 kcal | 390 kcal |
| Protein | 13.7 g | 27.3 g | 13.7 g |
| Fat | 8.6 g | 17.1 g | 8.6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 71.1 g | 142.2 g | 71.1 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.5 g | 0.9 g | 0.5 g |
| Calcium | 28.5 mg | 57 mg | 28.5 mg |
| Iron | 1.2 mg | 2.4 mg | 1.2 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 390 kcal | 13.7 g | 8.6 g | 71.1 g | 0.5 g | 28.5 mg | 1.2 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 780 kcal | 27.3 g | 17.1 g | 142.2 g | 0.9 g | 57 mg | 2.4 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
