Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (2024)

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Easy Japanese Beef Bowl ( Gyudon ) recipe with tender beef slices, onions, and sweet and savoury sauce. Served over a bowl of steamed rice and poached egg.

Super fast and easy to prepare in under 20 minutes! Incredibly delicious and budget-friendly!

Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (1)

What is Gyudon?

Gyudon is one of the popular Japanese dish loaded with beef and onion. It is usually serve with Japanese short grain rice and topped with an onsen egg, ginger pickles, and green onions. 'Gyu' means 'Beef' and 'Don' means 'Bowl'.

It's also called 'Gyumeshi', originated in Japan and now available in the menu of most Japanese restaurants across the world.

There are few different types of Gyudon recipes such as Yoshinoya, Sukiya, etc. Every family has its own version, some add dashi stock in the dish and some recipes do not include dashi stock. Some add eggs while cooking the beef and some recipes add onsen egg or poached egg as a topping.

Ingredients

Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (2)

Beef Slices

Thinly shaved beef is ideal for this recipe. Which beef cut to use? You can use rib eye, chuck, sirloin, or any of your favorite steak cut. The key is the slice the meat very thinly.

Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (3)

How to slice beef thinly? Half frozen beef can be cut into very thin slices. Place the beef in an airtight freezer bag and freeze it for one and half hours to two hours. When the beef is firm enough, cut into super-thin slices with a sharp knife.

If you are not a beef fan, you can try this recipe with tender chicken slices and make it an Oyakodon ( Japanese Chicken and Rice Bowl ).

Vegetables

Onions: Use yellow, sweet, or white onion for this recipe. Cut the onion into medium slices. Stir fry until soft and tender before you add the beef.

Spring Onions: Add thin slices of spring onions at the final step and add it on the top.

Sauces

Soy sauce: You can use Japanese soy sauce ( Shoyu) like Kikkoman, Yamasa, or Marukin. If you cannot get Japanese brand soy sauces, use all-purpose soy sauce or light soy sauce for this recipe.

Mirin: Mirin is a Japanese cooking rice wine, that has a subtle sweet flavour. Very low in alcohol percentage, can tenderize the meat, and ideal to add in marinade and sauces. If you cannot find mirin, you can add rice wine vinegar, dry white wine, or dry sherry.

If you wish to make it a non-alcohol or halal mirin version, you can mix sugar syrup/honey + rice vinegar/water. ( ratio is½ + ½ ).

Sake: Sake is a Japanese rice beverage that can be also used in marinade and sauces in Japanese cooking. It is sweet, acidic, and higher alcohol content than mirin.

The closest sake substitutes are rice wine, dry sherry, or Shao Xing Chinese cooking rice wine. You can mostly buy sake bottles or cooking sake at Oriental/Asian supermarkets.

Sugar: Brown sugar or white sugar both work well. Combine mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl until sugar dissolved.

Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (4)

Egg

Japanese Onsen egg known as Onsen Tamago is usually added to the gyudon topping. But for this quick and easy beef bowl recipe, we are adding poached egg instead of Onsen egg.

Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (5)

How to make a quick poached egg? Break an egg in a small bowl. Fill the saucepan with water over half of the saucepan, bring it to boil. Then turn down the heat into low. Stir the water and make it into a whirlpool. Drop the egg gently in the center of the whirlpool and leave it for 2-3 minutes until the egg white is set.

Remove from water and place it over to paper towel to dry out the excess water. Then add it over the beef bowl.

Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (6)

Ginger Pickle

Japanese red pickled ginger ( Shoga ) which is made from julienned ginger and vinegar. Vibrant red in colour and it has a refreshing, tangy, pungent ginger taste. If you cannot find Japanese pickle you can serve with Korean kimchi for this recipe.

Gyudon Recipe Instructions

  1. Freeze the beef in the fridge for 1.5 to 2 hour to half frozen. Slice the beef into paper thin slices. Cut the onion and spring onion into thin slices.
  2. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
  3. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and sautee until the onions are soft and translucent.
  4. Then follow with the beef slices, and ginger paste cook until beef is no longer pink.
  5. Pour the sauce mix in and stir well to combine all ingredients evenly.
  6. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the sauce is thick. Then turn off the heat and sprinkle the chopped spring onions in.
  7. Served over the bed of steamed rice. Topped with poached egg, spring onions and Japanese ginger pickle.

Which rice is best for this recipe?

Japanese short-grain rice or Thai jasmine rice is perfect for a beef bowl or Asian rice bowl recipes. But you can serve with any of your favourite cooked rice, brown rice, or even taste great with simple egg fried rice or noodles.

Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (7)

More Family Favourite Japanese Recipes

Here is more of our family's favourite Japanese recipes that you might like:

  • Yakisoba Recipe ( Stir Fried Japanese Noodles )
  • Tori Karaage (Japanese fried chicken)
  • Beef Udon Stir Fry
  • Easy Chicken Yaki Udon

Stay updated with our new recipes

We are on social mediaFacebook,Instagram,YouTube( New recipe video every week ) , andPinterest( Pin your favourite recipes ). If you've tried this recipe, please share your comment or post on social media and tag me. I would love to see your creations and feedback.

📖 Recipe

Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (12)

Japanese Beef Bowl Gyudon

Tender beef slices, onion cooked with sweet and savoury Japanese sauce. Served over rice and topped with poached egg.

4.93 from 14 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: japanese cuisine

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 2

Calories: 752kcal

Author: Khin

Ingredients

  • 400 g Beef ( Half frozen steak cut )
  • 1 Onion ( medium-size )
  • 1 tbsp Oil ( Vegetable or neutral flavour oil )
  • 1 tsp Ginger ( finely grated or paste )

Sauce

  • 3 tbsp Soy sauce ( all purpose soy sauce or light soy sauce )
  • 2 tbsp Mirin ( rice wine or dry sherry )
  • 1 tbsp Sake ( Sake or rice wine )
  • 2 tbsp Brown sugar ( or white sugar )

To serve

  • Spring Onions
  • 2 Egg
  • Japanese red ginger pickle ( or kimchi )

Instructions

  • Freeze the beef in the fridge for 1.5 to 2 hour to half frozen. Slice the beef into paper thin slices. Cut the onion and spring onion into thin slices.

  • Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small mixing bowl.

  • Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium heat. Stir fry the onion until soft and tender.

  • Then follow with the beef slices, and ginger paste cook until beef is no longer pink.

  • Pour the sauce mix in and stir well to combine all ingredients evenly.

  • Cook for 2-3 minutes until the sauce is thick. Then turn off the heat and sprinkle the chopped spring onions in.

  • Served over the bed of steamed rice. Topped with poached egg, spring onions and Japanese ginger pickle.

Nutrition

Calories: 752kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 51g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 306mg | Sodium: 1840mg | Potassium: 756mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 239IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 89mg | Iron: 6mg

Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @KhinsKitchen or tag #KhinsKitchen!

Gyudon ( Japanese Beef Bowl ) - Khin's Kitchen Asian Beef Bowl Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is gyudon sauce made of? ›

Sauce: The sauce is a harmonious blend of sweet and savory, made with dashi (Japanese soup stock), sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar. It is so simple yet highly effective in creating robust flavor!

What is the best meat for gyudon? ›

It's typically made with ribeye or chuck that's been shaved extra thin on a meat slicer. You'll be able to find good meat for gyudon in Japanese supermarkets, but if you don't have access to that, any beef intended for Philly cheesesteaks will work (even the frozen stuff!).

What is the world famous beef bowl in Japan? ›

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).

How healthy is gyudon? ›

A typical bowl of gyudon weighs in at around 660 calories, or 120 calories more than a Big Mac, with a near equivalent amount of sodium and all that other bad-for-you stuff.

What is a substitute for dashi in gyudon? ›

Hondashi powder - Also known as bonito soup stock. It's a great substitute for dashi, just as chicken bouillon cubes are great for chicken stock when you're in a pinch. Because we are using water for our sauce base, we need to add some hondashi powder to give the dish the same flavor as if using dashi broth.

What sauce do they use at Japanese restaurants? ›

Shoyu is the most widely used condiment in Japanese cuisine and found in or added to a large number of dishes. The fermented soybean product adds depth to a dish when cooked together or when used as a dipping sauce like for sushi. There are different types of soy sauce, including light and dark ones.

What is the expensive Japanese beef called? ›

Narrator: This is wagyu beef, one of the most expensive meats in the world. Produced in Japan and prized for its rich marbling and buttery taste, high-grade wagyu can cost up to $200 per pound, and the cows themselves can sell for as much as $30,000.

What are the three types of Japanese beef? ›

This is because true wagyu beef must come from the following four Japanese breeds of cow: Japanese Black, Japanese Polled, Japanese Brown, and Japanese Shorthorn, or a mix of these breeds. By far the most common breed is the Japanese Black, called "kuroge wagyu" in Japanese.

What are the two types of Japanese beef? ›

Kobe and wagyu beef are both highly sought-after types of high-end beef. They're both Japanese imports that come from cattle breeds that have been specially raised and cared for since birth. Kobe beef comes from one specific breed of Japanese cow.

Why was beef banned in Japan? ›

“For both religious and practical reasons, the Japanese mostly avoided eating meat for more than 12 centuries. Beef was especially taboo, with certain shrines demanding more than 100 days of fasting as penance for consuming it.

Why is Japanese beef so good? ›

Wagyu beef, originating from Japan, is renowned for its extraordinary marbling, which results in unmatched tenderness and a rich buttery flavour. The key differences between Wagyu and other beef types lie in the genetics, breeding methods, and feed. Japanese breeders know the breeding history of all their Wagyu cattle.

How much does a beef bowl cost in Japan? ›

A regular beef bowl will be priced at ¥430, a ¥30 hike. The new price system will be implemented from 9 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Zensho, which was operating 1,952 Sukiya stores nationwide as of February.

Why is Japanese food so healthy? ›

The Key Ingredients in Japanese Foods and Their Health Benefits. Japanese foods contain a high proportion of proteins, omega-3 fatty acids, good cholesterol, vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

Is Wagyu actually healthy? ›

While Wagyu beef does have a high-fat content, it also has a high concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which can have health benefits. MUFAs, in particular, have been shown to help lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Is Wagyu the healthiest beef? ›

Per 4 oz serving, Angus beef contains 293 calories and 18.7 g of total fat, while Wagyu contains only 218 calories and 14 g of fat. In addition, Wagyu boasts more monounsaturated fats, making it a healthier choice for heart health. Besides being delightfully flavorful, Wagyu beef has been shown to improve digestion.

What is the taste of gyudon? ›

Gyudon (牛丼, gyūdon, beef bowl) is a popular domburi dish consisting of beef and onion served over a bowl of rice. The meat and onion are cooked in a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake, giving the dish a sweet, salty flavour.

What is mirin sauce? ›

Mirin is a rice wine that adds amazing flavor to Japanese cooking. Because of its high sugar content, it's the perfect balance to the salty flavor of soy sauce, another classic Japanese condiment. And its syrupy consistency makes it a key ingredient in Japanese glazes, such as teriyaki sauce.

What does Donburi sauce taste like? ›

One of the tastiest componants of the dish has got to be the donburi sauce – with the perfect balance of sweet and umami. The ingredients of the sauce vary according to season, region, and taste – but our co-founder Ken has shared one of his favourite recipes for you to try at home.

Is gyudon sweet or salty? ›

Gyudon can be made at home and is also a popular fast food dish. The dish features thinly sliced beef and onions simmered in a sweet-savory sauce reminiscent of sukiyaki.

References

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