Gyudon (Beef Rice Bowl) Recipe

Gyudon is a type of Japanese rice bowl with a tasty topping made from shaved beef simmered with onions. As recipe developer Cecilia Ryu explains, its name comes from a combination of the words "gyu," which means "beef," and "don," which means "bowl." In addition to the beef, rice, and onions, the dish also includes a savory-sweet sauce. "The gyudon sauce," Ryu tells us, "is spooned over the meat and rice so that the rice can absorbs all of the delicious sauce."

As for the type of meat used in gyudon, Ryu explains that "shaved ribeye is the best type of meat for this recipe because it is a very tender cut." She does say that you can use another cut of beef if you prefer, but insists that "using shaved or very thinly sliced meat is very important for this dish because it adds to the tenderness of the meat."

The main ingredients for this beef rice bowl are shaved beef and cooked white rice, while for the sauce you'll need an onion, soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, and dashi. Ryu uses homemade dashi in this recipe and you can, too, if you wish — here's Andrew Zimmern's dashi recipe if you'd like to give it a try. You can also use a powdered mix, or Ryu says you can even use water in place of this ingredient. She does say, though, that "the dashi will give the dish more umami."

Before you can start cooking, you will first need to peel and chop the onion, of course. You'll also need to chop the beef. Even though it is already shredded, Ryu suggests you take the clump of meat and cut it into three pieces. "The simple purpose of cutting the meat," she explains, "is to make smaller pieces."

Cook the onions in the dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar for about 5 minutes over medium heat. This should allow enough time for the onion to soften up a bit. Add the beef, then cook everything for 10 more minutes. Stir the mixture as you add the beef, then every so often as it cooks. This, Ryu says, is to keep the meat slices from sticking to each other. Once the broth has reduced and the beef is cooked, turn off the heat.

Divide the rice between two bowls and top it with the beef/onion mixture, not forgetting the pan juices. If you want to dress up the rice bowls, you can use poached eggs, shredded scallions, sesame seeds, and/or shichimi togarashi. Ryu says that gochugaru or crushed red pepper can be used in place of this last-named ingredient, noting that "it adds a little spicy kick to the dish, but it isn't necessary," so you can always just skip it (or any of these other garnishes) if you prefer.

While the gyudon is best when it's hot and fresh, if you don't intend to eat both bowls at once, the leftovers can be refrigerated for 3 days. If it'll take you a little longer to finish it up, the dish can also be frozen.