When I asked my Japanese friend who’s currently living in the rural U.S. what food she misses the most from home, she responded very quickly: “TKG.
” In fact, she loves TKG so much that it’s often the first and last meal that she eats at Haneda Airport in the midst of her international travels–and I’m willing to bet that she’s not the only one who’s had similar thoughts. “TKG” affectionately stands for tamago kake gohan , or a bowl of rice topped with raw egg and other seasonings (raw eggs are generally safe to consume in Japan, unlike in many other countries). It’s a simple dish that can be eaten at any time of the day but is often consumed as a quick and no-fuss breakfast.
Individuals can also get very particular about the “right” way to eat it–not unlike friends arguing over which pizza toppings are acceptable and not (OK, maybe not quite to the same heated level as the debate over pineapple pizza, though). In honor of TKG Day on October 30, which celebrates the establishment of the Japan Tamago Kake Gohan Symposium, Japanese “Dining Out Food Research Institute” Hot Pepper Gourmet Gaishoku Soken recently conducted an online survey with 1,035 male and female participants ranging in age from their 20s through 60s. The Institute’s goal was to determine the most common trends for consuming TKG in terms of both preparing the raw egg as well as adding seasonings to the dish.
▼ TKG in its purest form – a simple, no-frills version with just ric.