牛丼 (Gyu Don)

Thinly sliced beef simmered with onions in a fragrant broth and served over rice, gyudon is one of the most popular forms of donburi, or rice bowl. Beef was not consumed in Japan until the westernization which occurred in the country following the Meiji Restoration, but by the late 1800s, beef had become a common food.[1] The modern from of gyudon was developed in 1899 by Eikichi Matsuda, the founder of Yoshinoya restaurant.[2] Gyudon is a cheap, hearty, and simple meal that both refrigerates and reheats well.

Ingredients

1 lb beef, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
½ cup dashi
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vegetable oil

Thinly slice the onion, and heat some oil in a skillet on medium heat. Once the skillet is up to temperature, add the sliced onions, together with a tablespoon of sugar. Adding sugar to onions is a common technique to fast-track caramelization. While we aren’t going all the way to caramelized onions for this recipe, the sugar will help mellow the flavor of the onions, as well as accelerating the cooking time. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until they soften and just begin to color. This should take about 10 minutes over medium heat.

In the meantime, let us talk beef. As befits its origin as a working-class meal, gyudon does not call for expensive cuts of beef. Instead, it relies on thin slicing and rapid cooking to render cheaper cuts, such as ribeye or chuck, tender. Gyudon doesn’t benefit from using more expensive beef—it is so thinly sliced you won’t be able to tell. Speaking of thin slices, thinly sliced meats are commonly available in East Asian supermarkets, where they are prepared fresh for hot pot, Japanese grilling, or dishes like this one. If you don’t have such a supermarket nearby, you can do the slicing at home. The two keys are to have a very sharp knife and to chill the meat in the freezer prior to slicing. Chilling a large piece of meat in the freezer for 1-2 hours will cause it to firm up, but you want to remove it and do your slicing before the meat actually gets a chance to freeze. Slice against the grain as thinly as possible—we are looking for a thickness of 2-3 mm for this dish. After you have your slices of beef, cut them again lengthwise to form strips about an inch wide.

Another thing to do while the onions are cooking is to prepare the sauce mixture. Combine the dashi with soy sauce, sake, and mirin. When the onions are soft and translucent, pour the sauce into the skillet, raise the temperature to medium high, and bring to a boil. The sauce for this dish is very thin in texture, almost soupy.[3]

When the sauce reaches a boil, add the sliced beef and cook, stirring often, until the beef is just cooked through. Because it is so thinly sliced, this should only take a matter of minutes. As soon as the beef is no longer pink, remove from the heat. Serve over rice, and spoon over plenty of sauce for the rice to soak up. Top with a raw egg yolk or fried egg and garnish with chopped scallions or pickled ginger, if desired.

Substitutions

If you don’t have dashi, you can substitute chicken stock. However, do not use beef stock in this recipe—the flavor is too strong for this dish.

During the BSE (mad cow disease) epidemic in the early 2000s, Japan banned beef imported from the United States, and Japanese gyudon restaurants were forced to scramble for alternative meats. Most settled on thinly sliced pork, creating a dish known as butadon. This substitution works pretty well!

[1] The restoration of the Emperors to effective power in Japan in 1868 led to a rapid influx of technology and ideas from the West, which triggered sweeping cultural and societal changes in the country.

[2] In the century since its founding, Yoshinoya has become a franchise chain, with more than 3000 locations in many countries, mostly in East Asia. They still serve predominantly gyudon.

[3] This is a clue to the evolutionary history of this dish—gyudon is derived from sukiyaki, a Japanese form of hot pot in which thin slices of beef are cooked in hot soup.

Recipe

Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 15 min Total Time: 20 min

Difficulty: 1/5

Heat Sources: 1 burner

Equipment: skillet

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb beef, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
½ cup dashi
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil comes to temperature, add the onion and sugar to the skillet. Stir and fry until the onions soften and begin to color, about 10 minutes.

2. Mix the dashi with the soy sauce, sake, and mirin. When the onions are cooked through, add the mixture to the skillet, increase the heat to medium high, and bring to a boil.

3. Add the sliced beef to the skillet and stir until the beef is just cooked, about 2-3 minutes.

4. Salt to taste, then serve over rice.