Tamahimo Oyakodon Recipe

たまひも親子丼 Tamahimo Oyakodon

This post follows my previous post on the traditional Oyakodon and is a variation on it using tamahimo eggs (たまひも), kinkan (キンカン) or chochin (lantern/ 提灯) eggs. These eggs are the eggs that are harvested from the hen when the hen is slaughtered. This means that they have yet to be fertilised and are at various stages of development. Those further along the developmental pathway would have egg white and an almost fully formed egg shell, while eggs at an earlier part of the pathway are basically just egg yolks alone, growing from small sizes initially all the way to a full sized yolk. These yet to be fully develop eggs also do not have an egg white attached to them, and are basically egg yolks with a firm layer around them. This means that they can be handled and pressed without bursting, unlike typical egg yolks which break easily. The taste of these eggs are like that of a concentrated duck egg yolk, with a much richer and sweeter mouth feel and bright orange colour compared to conventional egg yolks.

They are almost impossible to find all around the world except in Japan. Even in Japan, they are usually found in high end Yakitori (chicken BBQ) restaurants and served as a treat. They can also be pre-ordered from a butcher and are usually served with a Fallopian tube. At a Yakitori restaurant, the fallopian tubes by which the eggs are attached too are skewered on a bamboo stick along with pieces of chicken meat and liver and grilled over charcoal. The egg itself is only lightly grilled and typically allowed to hand off the side of the grill to prevent it from being overcooked.

The Fallopian tube themselves however, are usually pre-cooked to ensure that they are not too tough. These eggs are also a part of traditional Jewish cuisine and are known as eyerlekh. Here, they were traditionally cured or poached in chicken soup but are now almost never consumed due to how hard it is to obtain them. The recipe that follows is Tamahimo Oyakodon, which is extremely luxurious considering how many eggs they contain, and is also a recipe that will be impossible to make because of how hard it is to obtain these eggs and it’s more rather to see what is possible with this ingredients.

たまひも親子丼 Tamahimo Oyakodon

• 200g Fallopian Tubes
• 150g Tamahimo Eggs
• 2 Normal Eggs
• 20ml Soy Sauce
• 20ml Mirin
• 10ml Sake
• 30ml Dashi Stock
• 5g Sugar
• 1 Large Onion

• Mitsuba Parsley

1. Mix the sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and dashi together and stir until the sugar has dissolve.
2. Slice up the fallopian tubes into bite size pieces and blanch them in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds before rinsing them.
3. Add the fallopian tubes to the mixture in a pan and simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on at low heat.
4. Slice the onions into thin slices but not diced. Add the onions to the pan and continue cooking.
5. When the onions are soft enough to your taste, add in the tamahimo eggs, stir and cook for a minute, do not over cook the eggs.
6. Beat the normal eggs together quickly, but do not over mix, it should not be a uniform colour. Lightly beating it creates a soft and creamy texture.
7. Add in the Mitsuba parsley and slowly drizzle on the egg mixture.
8. Cover again and cook until the eggs are cooked to the consistency of your taste. This dish is usually served with semi-cooked eggs.