Katsudon (カツ丼, breaded pork cutlet over rice)

Katsudon looks like a contradiction: fry a pork cutlet until crisp, then lay it in broth. The nervous cook sees a sodden dinner coming. It isn't. We use a shallow pool of dashi and soy, and only for a moment, so the egg settles around the cutlet while a few ridges stay dry and crisp.

The first secret is timing. Fry the tonkatsu, slice it cleanly, then bring it to the rice at once. The broth should be strong because the rice will soften it, and it should be scant because the cutlet isn't being stewed. Pour the egg loosely, not beaten into perfect smoothness, so it sets in soft gold and white streaks instead of one rubbery sheet.

This is donburi, bowl food complete in the hand, and it belongs to the everyday table as much as to a student before an exam. Katsu sounds like katsu (勝つ), to win, so the bowl has gathered a cheerful superstition around it. We need not be dramatic. A good cutlet, clear dashi, hot rice, and nothing hidden under sauce: that is victory enough.