Glossary - Kitchen Tools

Donburi

A bowl made of pottery or lacquerware, essential for rice bowls and noodles

What is donburi?

A donburi (丼 in Japanese) is a large, deep bowl that is larger and thicker than a rice bowl or soup bowl. It is usually made from pottery or lacquerware, but there are also plastic donburi that are less likely to break and easier to handle. A donburi is also called a "don" when rice is served in it and accompaniments like tempura, sashimi, kabayaki eel, tonkatsu, etc. are placed on top. In addition to rice, donburi is also used to eat noodle dishes with broth, such as udon, soba, and ramen, and ochazuke (rice dish with tea). Donburi are available with or without a lid, donburi without lids more often being used for noodle dishes.

Dishes that use donburi Example 1:
Katsudon (pork cutlet on rice)

Dishes that use donburi Example 2:
Kinoko udon (mushroom udon)

How to use

Donburi come in a variety of sizes and depths, so it is best to choose a donburi size that suits your purpose. A medium-sized donburi with a diameter of about 15 cm and a depth of 8 to 10 cm is suitable for both rice and noodles. Usually, one donburi is used per person, but it can also be used as a large bowl to serve stews and salads together.

Substitute for donburi: when you don’t have it

For noodles dishes with broth, you can use a salad bowl, deep dish, or large rice bowl instead. Also, for "donmono" (rice bowls), instead of putting rice in a bowl, you can put ingredients on top of or on the side of the rice on a plate.

Trivia

The prototype of donmono, where side dishes are served with rice as a staple food, appeared and became popular at the end of the Edo period, and it is said that the donburi culture we know today developed after the Meiji period (1868-1912).