Niigata Itariadon

Italian Donburi is a a italian inspired rice-bowl that is part of Japanese cuisine that brings rice as a main part of the experience. It falls under a sort of “Itameshi” dish selection of Japanese-Italian cuisine that is both significant in size and can be taken on the go in many cases. The bowl is a complete dish and usually but not always has a main course, a sauce of some sort to make the rice even better, and toppings that go well with the rest of the bowls ingredients.  A Itariadon is a bowl of rice topped with ingredients that make the rice taste delicious and make the eyes hungry with each store developing their own variety of flavors depending on the food served there. Itariadon is named with the word “Italian”,  Itariadon is surprisingly a dish that originated in Japan and is rarely seen in places outside of Japan, and even if it's made in Japan it is marked as special, or often not listed on the menu at certain strict authentic Italian restaurants as. There are theories to where the don had originated with theories that it was in the early Showa era, but the exact origin is unknown, but a modern theory comes from Minami-uonuma where there was a spread of Niigata Rice Bowl dishes for regional revitalization.

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It was said that it had come into the spotlight when Sale & Pepe サーレエペペ had made a Italian Donbuti イタリア丼 that people online would start referring to as a tasty “Itariadon” not to be confused with Itaria Yakisoba, the donburi bowl had rice and had toppings on it that were really delicious in a sauce that went well with the rice. The cost was ¥1,500 at the time of the regional revitalization campaign for a serious budget with a large serving for a good lunch. Other variations would go on as restaurants that cooked Italian Cuisine continued in the Donburi event of Majidon in Minami-uonuma, a rice producing area known for their donburi. Through the internet people had seen the bowls that made them very hungry and since they could not go to minami-uonuma for one reason or another they would try to make many Italian bowls, especially if they traveled to Italy, had an interest in Italian cuisine, or had made home cooked Yoshoku.

 

The dish is not considered to be known and is not recognized by many people who aren’t familiar with it. Ingredient List  サーレエペペ Sale e pepe: Chicken Egg, Lettuce, Garlic, Soy Sauce, Mayonnaise, Grilled onions, Grilled Pork, Grilled Yakinasu Eggplant, Caesar Dressing, Salt, Pepper, Dried Parsley, Sugar, Olive Oil, Soybean Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Cream Sauce, Tomato Sauce. It would be nicknamed "Porcodon" for the main ingredient people would taste was the pork that was accompanied by all sorts of seasonings and sauces. However, the versatility of a donburi category would mean that there were all kinds of ingredients that could be used to make dishes that would help contrast Niigata through its culinary history of western cuisine.

 

Classifications still being discussed, understood, and talked about there is no clear types yet, but there are different varieties people have their own idea of how to separate bowls from one another. Here are some of the names people in the region have come up with for their own way to talk about such donburi: (1) Porcodon, (2) Obettodon, (3) Gyutandon, (4) Reba Tamago Gohan (kinoko, liver, egg, butter), (5) Pesukatoredon.

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Obettodon (Itl. Ovetto. Chicken Egg Donburi): (A.) Sake-Marinated Chicken: Olive oil outside-grill charred chicken bite-sized chunks, [put aside]. (B.) Rendered Chicken Skin Fat & Olive Oil: Garlic (umami), Green Bell peppers, Carrot, and Onions (umami) [place aside]. (C.) Simmering Sauce: Sake (sub. white wine), Chicken Broth, Kombu Dashi, Light Shoyu, Tomato paste (sweetness-tart-umami), [combine A,B, C, and add 3 mixed-eggs]. (D) Serve with fresh chopped basil (sweet-spicy), fresh chopped Italian Parsley, and rendered chicken skin that has hardened into a chip.

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Pesukatoredon: (Itl. Pescatore. Fisherman Donburi): (A.) Gremolata: Olive Oil, Lemon, Lemon Zest, Garlic, Onions, (C.) Shrimp heads, Clams, Mussels [until shells open, remove shrimp heads], (B.) Simmering Sauce: Sake (sub. white wine), Seafood Broth, Kombu Dashi, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Butter, Shoyu, Tomato paste (sweetness-tart-umami). (D.) bite-sized chunks grilled Sake-Marinated Squid (E.) thinly-sliced Parsley and thinly-sliced dried chilis.

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https://www.gastronomia.jp/2017/02/174/
https://www.youtube.com/@regalo_ogura/videos 
https://www.youtube.com/@aos/videos 
https://www.tastingtable.com/1150972/itameshi-the-meeting-point-between-italian-and-japanese-cuisines/ 
https://www.gastronomia.jp/2017/02/174/