Gyudon - Japanese Beef Bowl

If you have never tried gyudon (Japanese beef bowl) before, you have no idea what you have been missing. This Japanese dish consists of a bowl of steamed white rice, topped with thinly sliced beef and onion simmered in an umami-rich sauce from dashi, sake, mirin, and soy sauce.

Gyudon is one of the basic lunch and bento dish in Japan, this can be found in almost any Japanese restaurant. Fast food joints like Yoshinoya, Sukiya, and Matsuya practically build their empire selling this.

The price of a bowl of gyudon is relatively cheap compared to other typical Japanese fares. But, no matter how cheap they are being sold in restaurants, there is no way it can be cheaper than preparing it at home.

With the price of one portion charged in restaurants, you can easily make four servings at home, I am not kidding you. And when the recipe is ridiculously easy like this, it would be a sin not to give it a try. ♥

What do I need to make gyudon at home?

You will need:

• 400 gram beef chuck, or other tender cuts like sirloin or tenderloin
• 1 onion
• 1 cup dashi (homemade, or from 1 cup water + 1 teaspon bonito flavored dashi seasoning)
• 6 tablespoon sake (Japanese rice wine), I prefer drinking grade vs. cooking grade sake
• 4 tablespoon soy sauce, I prefer to use less sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon mirin
• 3 tablespoon sugar

Since gyudon is always served on top of a bed of steamed white rice, you will also need 4 bowls worth of steamed white rice.

How to cook gyudon at home?

Let’s walk through the super simple steps to cook gyudon:

1. Thinly slice the beef. It is much easier if you freeze the beef first before slicing.
2. Half the onion, and slice thinly.
3. Place all sauce ingredients (dashi, sake, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar) in a pan and bring to a rolling boil. Add beef and onion, cook until the sauce boils again, about 3-5 minutes. Then quickly turn off the heat.
4. Divide the beef, onion, and sauce over 4 bowls of steamed white rice. Serve immediately.

What do I serve with gyudon?

Gyudon on its own is already a complete meal. In a gyudon restaurant, it is common for customers to add even more toppings to the basic bowl of gyudon, such as a raw egg, or a soft poached egg (onsen tamago).

On the table itself, it is common to see beni shoga (pickled ginger) and nanami togarashi (ground chili pepper).

Also, a gyudon meal set in Japan commonly includes a bowl of miso soup too. So if you wish to replicate that experience, feel free to follow my recipe to make a simple tofu and wakame miso soup at home. :)