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Gyudon

(Japanese Rice Bowl)

  • time icon

    Total time:
20min

  • serving icon

    Servings:
2

  • fire icon

    Calories:
2

  • fire icon

    Difficulty:
Easy
gyudon-fin

Description

Gyūdon (牛丼, "beef bowl"), also known as gyūmeshi (牛飯 or 牛めし, "beef [and] rice"), is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion, simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with dashi (fish and seaweed stock), soy sauce and mirin (sweet rice wine). (Wikipedia).

[It] is considered to be derived from gyūnabe (牛鍋), a beef hot pot originating in the Kantō region of eastern Japan, first served in Yokohama in 1862. (Wikipedia). (Just One Cookbook).

Before You Start…

Dietary Limitations

  • Soy (Soy sauce)
  • Gluten: (Soy sauce)
  • Alcohol (Sake, mirin)
  • Seafood (Dashi: if using traditional awase dashi)
  • Sugar; Beef; Onions

Equipments need

  • Rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe (may use convenient rice)
  • Frying pan

Ingredients

  • ½ onion (4 oz, 113 g)
  • 1 green onion/scallion
  • ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) (you can also slice your own meat)

For Sauce

  • ½ cup dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
  • 2 Tbsp sake (substitute with dry sherry or Chinese rice wine, or use water for a non-alcohol version)
  • 2 Tbsp mirin (or use 2 Tbsp sake/water + 2 tsp sugar)
  • 3 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp sugar (to taste)

For Serving

  • 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (typically 1⅔ cups (250 g) per donburi serving)
  • pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga) (to garnish)
Gyudon Ingredients

Instructions

Tips Before Cooking

  1. For the steamed rice, please note that 1½ cups (2 rice cooker cups, 300 g) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked rice, enough for 2 donburi servings (3⅓ cups, 500 g).
  2. Gather all the ingredients. You may put the thinly sliced beef in the freezer for 10 minutes because it‘s a lot easier to cut semi-frozen meat.

To Prepare the Ingredients

  1. First, thinly slice ½ onion.
    Thinly slice onion
  2. Next, cut 1 green onion/scallion diagonally into thin slices. Set aside.
    Cut1 green onion/scallion
  3. Then, remove ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) from the freezer. Cut the semi-frozen meat into pieces 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide.
    Cut beef
  4. In a large frying pan (do not turn on the heat yet), add ½ cup dashi (Japanese soup stock), 2 Tbsp sake, 2 Tbsp mirin, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp sugar. Stir to combine and dissolve the sugar.
    Add seasonings
  5. Next, add the onion slices and spread them in the broth throughout the pan, separating the onion layers.
    Layer onions
  6. Then, distribute the meat on top of the onions. Separate the thin slices of beef so the meat covers the onions.
    Layer meat

To Cook

  1. Cover the pan with a lid. Now, turn on the heat to medium and start cooking. Once simmering, turn down the heat to simmer and cook, covered, for 3-4 minutes.
    Simmer meat
  2. While simmering, open the lid and skim off the scum and fat from the broth with a fine-mesh skimmer one to two times.
    Skim off scum and fat
  3. Sprinkle the green onions on top and cook covered for another minute.
    Optional: If you would like to add beaten eggs, you can do it now.
    Add seasonings

To Serve

  1. Divide 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice into large donburi bowls. Then, drizzle some of the pan sauce on top of the rice.
    Pan sauce on top
  2. Put the beef and onion mixture on top of the rice. If you’d like, drizzle additional remaining sauce on top. Top the gyudon with pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga). Enjoy!
    Red ginger on top

To Store

  1. You can keep any leftover beef and egg mixture in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days and in the freezer for up to 3-4 weeks.