Gyūdon (Japanese Beef Bowl)

Gyūdon (literally translates to beef bowl) is a super quick, easy, yet extremely delicious meal; which makes it a very popular dish found throughout Japan. Gyūdon was actually one of the first meals I had during my trip to Japan, and it was an absolute wonder. Although very simple to make, it is filled with such amazing complex flavors; savory richness from Maggi/soy sauce and sake/cooking wine, along with a hint of sweetness from mirin. Although this version doesn’t include dashi (a seaweed and fish cooking stock), it is still absolutely fantastic.

With its simplicity, this is the perfect recipe to make if you need something fresh and quick in the evening after a long weekday.

This recipe was adapted from Just One Cookbook’s Gyūdon Recipe. Her website is filled with tons of fantastic and authentic Japanese recipes just like Gyūdon!

Trust me…gyūdon’t want to miss out!

Ingredients (for 2-3 people)
-1.5 lbs ribeye or chuck beef, sliced very thinly (ask your butcher)
-1 large onion (white or yellow), sliced thinly
-3 tsp sugar
-2 Tbsp Maggi sauce or soy sauce
-3 Tbsp mirin
-3 Tbsp sake or Shaoxing cooking wine
-Olive oil, for pan
-Chopped green onions, for garnish
–Optional: Egg
–Optional: Beni shōga (pickled ginger)

Procedure
1) Heat up olive oil in a pan on medium high heat
2) When oil is heated, add sliced onions to the pan
3) Cook onions with occasional stirring until they begin to caramelize (approx 5 minutes)
4) Add sliced beef, sugar, Maggi sauce/soy sauce, mirin, and sake/Shaoxing cooking wine to the pan. Stir and cook until all the beef has browned
5) Once beef has browned, reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 1-2 minutes
6) Remove from heat and serve with rice, green onions, beni shōga, and egg

Observations
-Beni shōga offers a crunchy, pickly, gingery, and refreshing bite. Great for palate cleansing in between spoonfuls of savory beef! It is often a side in various Japanese rice dishes such as gyūdon or other donburi (rice bowl)
-Sake is the more traditional wine used to cook this recipe, but Shaoxing cooking wine is also a fine substitute.

References
–Just One Cookbook’s Gyudon Recipe