As you may know, gyudon is one of the most popular fast food among Japanese people. Thinly sliced beef simmered in sweet-salty sauce matches perfect with white rice!
Although it’s one of the meal that is cooked at home, you can eat really delicious beef bowl at chain restaurants all over Japan. That is why I said it’s “fast food”.
There are several types of gyudon chain restaurants in Japan, and here I would like to introduce how to recreate the one at Yoshinoya that most of Japanese would know.
There are 2 important points for Yoshinoya-style recipe.
1. Using white wine not sake.
2. Make caramel sauce with sugar and water in advance.
I believe, trying beef bowl in Japan is one of the must-try thing when visiting Japan, but you can actually recreate that famous restaurant dish at home!
Please enjoy the best Yoshinoya-style beef bowl!
Ingredients (for 2 servings of beef bowl)
・2 bowls of Rice
・5.3 oz (150g) Thinly sliced beef
・3.5 oz (100g) Sliced onion
・1/2 clove of Garlic
・1/2 teaspoon Ginger
・1 tablespoon Sugar
・0.5 tablespoon Water
・2 tbsp Soy sauce
・1.5 tablespoons White wine
・1.5 tablespoons Mirin
・0.5 cup (125ml) Water
・A pinch of Salt
・1/2 teaspoon Consomme powder*1
・1/2 teaspoon Dashi powder*2
Topping
・Red pickled ginger (beni shoga)
*1If you don’t have consomme powder, use chicken stock powderinstead.
*2You can choose any type of dashi such as bonito, kombu (kelp), or shiitake mushrooms. You can use either powder or dashi soup.
Direction
1. Make a caramel sauce with 1tbsp of sugar and 0.5tbsp of water. Mix those in a pot, and heat up for a while. When you smell nice caramel flavor, turn off the heat. Please don’t make it thick sauce.
2. Add white wine and mirin. Heat up, and allow the alcohol to evaporate.
3. Turn off the heat, and add all of other seasonings (soy sauce, salt, consomme, and dashi) and 0.5cup of water to the pot.
4. Turn on the heat, and once it boils, cook onion.
5. When onion gets soft add ginger, garlic, and beef.*3
6. Cook beef, then dish up over the rice. (If you have time, let the beef rest for a while to let the taste soak in.)
Please pour a little soup with beef on the bowl so that the rice can absorb the taste well and become even more delicious! Also, I recommend to put some red pickled ginger (beni-shoga) on top.
Ready to eat!
*3Garlic and ginger should be taken out before putting the beef on the bowl. But, you can eat them too if you want to. If you will take them out before eating, I recommend to cut them into bigger piece so that you can easily find them in the pot.
