Akutagawa

Stir-fried sprouts, eggs, fresh green peppers and onions with beef (or sausage or chicken), with an extra side of sausage (comes with choice of toast)

I’m shocked I didn’t know about this dish, but it is available at only ONE restaurant. That’s probably why.

It’s like a deconstructed egg foo young. The egg was not poured over the meat and vegetables and made into a patty, and the gravy was on the rice instead of the stirfry mixture.

From WBEZ (2015):

https://www.wbez.org/stories/beyond-deep-dish-exploring-chicagos-other-native-foods/bd1372df-010f-46a3-98b0-197eae0ed005

“Sometime during the late ‘60s — when Wrigleyville had a large working class Japanese-American population — a character named George Akutagawa was a regular at a diner called Hamburger King. There he asked his pal, HK’s cook and owner Joe Yamauchi, to saute a mix of chopped burger, bean sprouts, onions and green peppers along with a couple of eggs. The dish caught on with other customers and even other restaurants. Five decades, three owners and one name change later, it’s still a popular item on the menu, although the diner is now owned by Korean Americans.”

From Localize (2020):

https://www.localize.city/blog/foods-invented-in-chicago-besides-deep-dish-pizza/

Akutagawa “was originally created by George Akutagawa, a working class japanese American in Chicago during the late 1960s. It all started when he asked his friend and owner Joe Yamauchi at Hamburger King in Wrigleyville to create this dish for him.

“It is a saute of chopper burger, bean sprouts, onions, eggs and green peppers. While the name of the restaurant has changed, you can still get a taste of this dish at Rice N Bread at Wrigleyville.”

So, reader, I am asking for your stories. Are there dishes that you’ve only been made aware of recently?

As always, please keep it civil and relevant. I promise I will refrain from commenting on your experience, but I might be curious enough to ask questions to better understand your story.