Our best rice bowl recipes make the original rice bowl meals and include recipes for everything from rice porridges, such as Chinese and Southeast Asian congees to Japanese donburi rice bowls such as oyakodon, the Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl, and katsudon, a crunchy tonkatsu, or Japanese pork cutlet, cooked in eggs and spring onions, served atop a bowl of rice.
Bowl food may have exploded in recent years, but the modern bowl food trend began around 20 years ago, marketed as healthy comfort food for people on the move. And bowl food is not going away for good reason.
Long before the bowl food trend – before noodle bowls, salad bowls, breakfast bowls, grain bowls, poke bowls, Buddha bowls, açai bowls, smoothie bowls, burrito bowls, and nourish bowls – there were rice bowls.
Rice bowls have been trending in northern Southeast Asia for, um, around 1,500 years. One of the oldest Southeast Asian recipes I identified during my Cambodia culinary history research will make you a rice bowl, a rice porridge with grains. Although Chinese rice porridge is 3,000 years old, dating to the Shang Dynasty.
There’s just something so comforting about hugging a big bowl of hot home-cooked fare with one hand and spooning nourishing food into your mouth with the other. It’s so primal. Probably because the oldest bowl, a big cauldron-like piece of pottery also used for cooking (steaming and boiling), found in Jiangxi, Southern China, is 20,000 years old.
Rice porridges and rice soups remain the most ubiquitous Asian rice bowls in China and Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia and Thailand but one of the most popular Asian rice bowls to travel the world in recent years has been the donburi dishes of Japan, which are some of our favourite rice bowls.
So what is a rice bowl exactly and how does it differ to a big pot of steamed jasmine rice at the centre of a Southeast Asian family meal or a plate of special fried rice on a lazy Susan at a Chinese restaurant? In contrast to those generous servings of rice that are the focus of sharing-style meals in Asia, to which savoury dishes are accompaniments to rice, a rice bowl is a complete meal in a bowl eaten by an individual.
Unlike the plate piled with rice at the centre of a shared family-style meal, from which the host serves the rice and then everyone spoons a little bit of this and a little of that onto or beside the rice on their plates, the rice bowl is a complete individual meal that can be customised with seasoning, sauces, spices and herbs, and condiments.
Whether you’re new to rice bowls and you like the idea of this filling meal in a bowl or you’re a rice bowl lover from way back, we have plenty of scrumptious rice bowl recipes in our Grantourismo archives for you, and we’ll be adding more over coming weeks, so do bookmark this post.
As regular readers know, we’re big rice lovers. If you haven’t read my post ‘Make Rice Not War, A Celebration of Rice Diversity to Inspire Curiosity and Connection’ do take a read. I’m on a mission to celebrate the countless ways rice is cooked around the world, including rice bowl dishes – in homes, on the street, in restaurants, and in communities, in their countries of origin and adoption, and in diasporas around the world.
In my pursuit of “peace, rice, love and understanding” I reached out to more than 50 rice lovers from around the globe – Michelin starred chefs, street food cooks, cooking school instructors, food writers, culinary guides, cookbook authors, supper club hosts, you name it – whom I asked to share their favourite rice dishes and rice cooking tips. I heard back from 65 rice experts who nominated 66 rice dishes.
Now before I tell you about our best rice bowl recipes, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo. You could buy a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; or book a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith; or buy something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, or gifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers.
Looking for more cooking inspiration? We’ve got thousands of recipes in our archives from around the world from places we’ve lived, worked, travelled, and loved. And note that you can save your favourite recipes in a private account by clicking on the heart on the right of the post. Now let me tell you all about our best rice bowl recipes.
Best Rice Bowl Recipes for the Original Rice Bowl Meals – Congee, Donburi, Borbor and More
My top tip if you’re planning on making any of our best rice bowl recipes and don’t have a rice cooker is to buy one. Our rice cooker gets used almost daily and makes all these recipes a breeze to make.
Oyakodon Recipe for a Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl
Published as part of our Weekend Eggs recipe series of quintessential eggs dishes from around the world, this easy oyakodon recipe makes one of our best rice bowl recipes. This Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl consists of silky-soft scrambled eggs with sweet spring onions and tender chicken simmered in dashi, served atop a bowlful of steamed Japanese rice.
A comforting, filling dish, oyakodon – which means ‘parent and child bowl’; ‘parent’ being the chicken and ‘child’ the egg – is a popular donburi or ‘rice bowl’ meal. A generous topping is placed on a bed of rice in a bowl. In Japan, donburi is an affordable fast-food lunch or dinner for students and workers, as much as a comforting home-cooked meal and perhaps the most quintessential of Japanese comfort foods.
You’ll need to hunt down some bonito flakes and kombu to make the dashi stock. This is not negotiable, otherwise it’s not oyakodon. Also source some shichimi togarashi – a blend of seven spices with chilli as a base – to sprinkle over the top of this dish. One of the most popular brands of Japanese togarashi is S&B brand.
There are specially-made oyakodon pans to cook this dish in and there are some examples on Amazon. We use a 15cm pan to make this oyakodon recipe as we find the bigger size makes a rice bowl that is far too filling for us. Chefs in Japan just slide the eggs into the bowl in one motion, but we find a silicone spatula is essential to help it on its way.
Easy Oyakodon Recipe for a Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl for Weekend Eggs
Katsudon Recipe for a Japanese Pork Cutlet and Egg Rice Bowl
Another popular Japanese donburi or rice bowl meal, katsudon consists of a crunchy tonkatsu, a Japanese pork cutlet, cooked in eggs and spring onions, served atop a bowl of rice and sprinkled with slices of scallions. It’s another one of our best rice bowl recipes.
The name ‘katsudon’ is derived from ‘katsu’, which means ‘cutlet’ – a breaded piece of pounded meat dipped in flour, egg and bread crumbs (in Japanese cooking, it’s panko breadcrumbs) before being fried – in this case, ‘tonkatsu’ (pork cutlet), and ‘don’ from ‘donburi’, Japanese rice bowl.
Like oyakodon, katsudon is a delicious, comforting and filling dish that can be eaten for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. When it comes to cooking katsudon, there are different methods for making what is essentially the same dish.
Our katsudon recipe follows the method most Japanese chefs and home cooks use. We make a bowl of steamed Japanese rice; then a pork cutlet with panko-breaded boneless pork chops, deep fried (katsudon is never shallow fried); then an egg mixture, sometimes with onions, nearly always with spring onions or scallions, mixed with a dashi–based stock. Sometimes chicken stock is used.
Some restaurants top katsudon with extras such as finely sliced ginger, an egg yolk, some Japanese chilli powder, or a big squeeze of Japanese mayonnaise, but we find that there’s a good balance of flavour in this katsudon recipe as is.
Katsudon Recipe for a Japanese Pork Cutlet and Egg Rice Bowl for Weekend Eggs
Pork and Crab Congee with XO Sauce Recipe by Chef Christine Manfield
Congee or rice porridge has long been a traditional Asian breakfast staple, although these days congee is eaten at any time of day. Thought to have originated in ancient India, where Tamil peoples from Southern India and northeastern Sri Lanka called it kanji, we most associate congee with China. Interestingly it’s only called congee in coastal Guangdong and is known as báizhōu, zhōu and jūk in other parts of China.
Congee takes different forms across Asia, from a watery rice soup to a thick silky texture. In its simplest form, congee is essentially white rice boiled in water until it breaks down into a thick porridge, which might be seasoned with white pepper and soy sauce or fish sauce . For a more flavourful and richer congee, the rice is boiled in stock, rather than water.
This pork and crab congee with XO sauce recipe is Australian chef Christine Manfield’s luxurious version of the humble rice porridge and it’s another of our best rice bowl recipes. Surprisingly easy to make, Christine’s congee features rich ingredients such as fresh crab and pork belly, and a combination of condiments and garnishes that work perfectly together, particularly the drizzle of chilli oil and couple of dollops of umami-packed XO sauce.
A Cantonese condiment which only surfaced in restaurants in Hong Kong in the heady boom years of the 1980s (it’s named after XO Cognac), XO sauce is expensive to buy, as you’d expect from a product made with sumptuous ingredients such as dried scallops (Japanese dried scallops go for US$138 for a one pound or 55-60 pieces on Amazon), dried shrimps, and aged ham.
While XO sauce is not cheap, it’s worth the investment. It has so much flavour, you don’t need a great deal of it, so it will last a while. We recommend Meal of Emperor XO Sauce, which sells for US$33 for a 2-pack of 80g jars on Amazon. More affordable, though not as rich in flavour, is this 80g jar of Lee Kum Kee Hong Kong XO.
Pork and Crab Congee with XO Sauce Recipe by Chef Christine Manfield
Turmeric Rice Porridge Recipe with Fried Egg, Fragrant Herbs and Crunchy Shallots
My gently spiced turmeric rice porridge recipe with fried eggs in chilli oil makes another of our best rice bowl recipes, even if I do say so myself. This is not an authentic recipe, but one of my own inventions inspired by our many years living in Southeast Asia and eating countless bowls of rice porridge.
In China, traditional congee garnishes include ingredients such as pickled vegetables, bamboo shoots, century eggs, and preserved fish, while in Southeast Asia, they can include crunchy fried garlic, spring onions, slithered ginger, pickled vegetables, sliced omelette, and ground peanuts.
My comforting bowl of Southeast Asian inspired rice porridge brims with flavour and texture, thanks to eggs fried in homemade chilli oil – I use this adorable mini fry pan and do one egg at a time; they’re super fast, but feel free to use a large fry pan or skillet and use egg rings – as well as an array of garnishes, including fresh fragrant herbs such as coriander and dill, spring onions, crunchy pan-roasted peanuts, sliced green chillies, crispy fried shallots, and a sprinkle of chilli flakes. A squirt of homemade Sriracha also works.
It’s not only deliciously filling, it’s healthy due to the turmeric. Used in traditional medicine in Asia for thousands of years, turmeric is a key ingredient in Southeast Asian spice pastes, soups, stews, and curries. Turmeric contains curcumin, an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties that can help relieve depression and anxiety. More recipes with turmeric here.
Turmeric Rice Porridge Recipe with Fried Eggs and Chilli Oil, Crunchy Shallots and Herbs
Easy Rice Cooker Congee Recipe for a Corn and Crab Rice Porridge
Our rice cooker congee recipe makes a corn and crab congee drizzled with sesame oil and chilli oil, sprinkled with crunchy fried shallots, and garnished with fresh coriander and spring onion. It’s a cheat’s congee recipe and it’s addictively delicious, incredibly comforting, and super versatile.
This is the recipe I use when I need comfort food and I’m too tired to do anything but add rice and water to a rice cooker, open a couple of cans, and prep a few ingredients. But you can easily elevate this congee by swapping the canned crab and corn kernels for fresh crab meat and corn sliced off boiled corn cobs.
Or skip the corn and crab and make this basic rice cooker rice porridge recipe with prawns or fish, shredded chicken, pork, or vegetables, and top with your favourite fresh herbs and condiments.
Easy Rice Cooker Congee Recipe for a Corn and Crab Rice Porridge
Tonkatsu Fried Rice with Onsen Eggs Recipe for a Rice Leftovers Dish You’ll Want to Plan
Terence’s tonkatsu fried rice with onsen eggs recipe makes yet another of our best rice bowl recipes. It combines a few of the things we love – fried rice, eggs and tonkatsu, the succulent Japanese pork cutlet breaded in panko crumbs and deep-fried.
Like the original Chinese fried rice that was invented to use leftover rice, this tonkatsu fried rice with onsen eggs recipe is the delicious result of experimentation and combining leftovers. We had a couple of pieces of tonkatsu and some steamed rice in the fridge and Terence had been getting creative with onsen eggs.
You will need a carbon steel wok for this dish and if you make fried rice often and don’t yet have one, then this is a good excuse to buy one. Once seasoned, the wok heats fast and has great heat distribution, so when it’s on really high you get that lovely smoky aroma in your final dish.
You’ll also need this tonkatsu recipe to make your tonkatsu and tonkatsu sauce before you make this tonkatsu fried rice with onsen eggs dish.
Tonkatsu Fried Rice with Onsen Eggs Recipe for a Rice Leftovers Dish You’ll Want to Plan
Bacon and Eggs Breakfast Congee Recipe for a Comforting East-West Savoury Rice Porridge
Rice porridges are probably the most widely consumed type of porridge, eaten not only in Asia, but also in Europe and the Middle East – from Portugal to Turkey, The Levant to Taiwan – yet they might just be the most ubiquitous in Asia.
Originating in India – in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, plain rice porridge is called kanji, which comes from the word for ‘boiling’ – China is perhaps the country we most associate with rice porridge or congee, although I’d wager that most Asian countries have a congee.
Our hearty bacon and eggs breakfast congee recipe makes a comforting East-West savoury rice porridge that’s inspired partly by the classic Australian breakfast of bacon and eggs with sautéed mushrooms, and partly by Chinese and Southeast breakfast porridges with pork and boiled eggs, and we reckon it’s another of our best rice bowl recipes.
You will need a mortar and pestle to lightly pound the lemongrass, ginger and garlic a few times, just enough to release the aromas, not to make a paste.
Bacon and Eggs Breakfast Congee Recipe for a Comforting East-West Savoury Rice Porridge
Chicken Rice Porridge Recipe for the Cambodian Congee Borbor Sach Moan
Eaten right around Asia, rice porridge or congee goes by different names in different countries. Here in Cambodia congee is called borbor; in Indonesia it’s named bubur; in Vietnam it’s known as cháo hoa; in Thailand it’s jok or chok, and khao tom in a more watery form; in Laos it’s khao piak (wet rice); and in Myanmar it’s hsan byok (boiled rice). It’s also eaten in one form or another in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea.
This Cambodian chicken rice porridge recipe makes the Cambodian congee, borbor sach moan. It’s long been thought that this chicken rice porridge is a dish of Chinese origin and part of the Cambodian-Chinese culinary heritage rather than a Khmer dish but I’m not so sure about that.
No matter its provenance it’s become a comfort food favourite of all Cambodians. We’ve observed Cambodians tuck into big bowls of this borbor for breakfast, brunch, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner (particularly if someone is feeling ill), and a late night supper (i.e. hangover cure).
Here in Siem Reap we can find borbor made with chicken, pork, fish, dried fish, seafood, snails, and frog legs, and it’s served with an array of condiments, from dried fish floss and pickled vegetables to fish sauce, chilli flakes, and fresh fragrant herbs.
Cambodian Chicken Rice Porridge Recipe for Borbor Sach Moan, Cambodia’s Congee
Comforting Cambodian Rice Soup Recipe with Pork Meatballs for Borbor Sor
This Cambodian rice soup recipe with pork meatballs is a comfort food favourite that’s typically eaten for breakfast – and breakfast here in Siem Reap is one of our favourite meals as there’s so much to choose from, from nom banh chok, the fresh rice noodles doused in coconut-based curries served with edible flowers, leaves and herbs to kuy teav, a noodle soup with a clear broth and beef, pork, offal, or chicken; smoky, grilled pork and rice.
Called ‘borbor sor’ or ‘white rice porridge’ in Khmer and made with leftover jasmine rice, it’s one of several ways to make Cambodian congee. ‘White’ used here distinguishes it from rice porridges and rice soups made from the herb and spice paste called kroeung which have a yellow-green colour depending on the type of kroeung used.
There are just a couple of ingredients that need a pound and we recommend doing that in a mortar and pestle as it releases the flavours and aromas so wonderfully.
Fish sauce is essential. We have a large collection and use Cambodian fish sauces for Cambodian recipes, Vietnamese fish sauces for Vietnamese dishes, Thai fish sauces for Thai recipes etc. However, if you don’t have access to a variety of fish sauces, we recommend Thailand’s Megachef for its quality and consistency, although many of our American friends like American-Vietnamese brand Red Boat Fish Sauce. We haven’t tried it as we’ve never seen it here in Southeast Asia.
Comforting Cambodian Rice Soup Recipe with Pork Meatballs for Borbor Sor Using Leftover Rice
Cambodian Vegetable Congee Recipe Adapted for Rice Cookers – Vegetarian with Tips for Vegans
This Cambodian vegetable congee recipe makes a delicious, healthy vegetable-driven rice porridge or borbor in Khmer, with a base of kroeung, a Cambodian spice paste. This is a vegetarian congee with tips for vegans.
This rice dish was traditionally made in a large pot on a clay brazier, over an open fire or on a gas burner. While most households in Southeast Asia probably have a rice cooker, not all Southeast Asians make rice in a rice cooker as ‘Uncle Roger’ would have you believe.
In Cambodia, for example, steamed rice is still mostly cooked in a pot on a clay brazier or directly over an open fire. When we moved to a village on the edge of Siem Reap at the start of the pandemic, we’d watch our neighbours light a fire in their yard each day on which they’d place a large metal pot to cook their rice and soups. A rice cooker is an easier way to make consistently good rice and I’ve adapted this recipe for rice cookers.
As locals typically make this Cambodian vegetable congee recipe in the cooler months, they will use pumpkin, sweet potatoes or carrots and mushrooms, but other popular vegetables are winter melon, taro, gourds, such as luffa gourd, and ivy gourd leaves. Some cooks use a lot of ivy gourd leaves, but if you can’t get hold of these, other options are Chinese greens or spinach or kale and so on.
A traditional Cambodian vegetable borbor recipe not only calls for ingredients such as snails and maybe fish, which we’ve skipped to create a vegetarian rice porridge, but also prahok (fermented fish) and fish sauce. Pescetarians might be happy to use these – at least the fish sauce if they can’t get hold of prahok.
Cambodian Vegetable Congee Recipe Adapted for Rice Cookers – Vegetarian with Tips for Vegans
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make any of our best rice bowl recipes, as we’d love to know how they turn out for you.
