34 have already made this dish!
The preparation:
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First, prepare the rice - either in a pot or a rice cooker. You can find instructions here: How to cook Japanese rice.
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Now quarter the onion.
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If you haven't bought thinly sliced beef, you'll need to carefully slice the meat into thin slices yourself. To make them tender enough, you should cut the meat while it's frozen - that way it's a bit easier. If the slices are too thick, the taste will suffer! (Tip: We recommend that you look for thinly sliced beef. You can also ask your butcher if they can slice the meat thinly for you. The thinner the slices, the better!)
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Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion.
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Meanwhile, mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl: dashi, sugar, sake, mirin, ginger juice, soy sauce.
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Once the onion is translucent, add the mixed sauce to the pan.
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Bring the sauce to a simmer, add the beef and let it cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
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Once the meat is cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly, remove the pan from the heat.
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Now it's time to arrange: First, add the cooked rice to a bowl, then add the meat and sauce, and finally you can garnish the Gyodon with pickled ginger (Beni Shoga), and - if you like - also with a raw egg. Ittadakimasu!
Table of contents:
Summary
Gyudon, a popular Japanese dish, combines thinly sliced beef cooked with onions in a sweet soy sauce, served over fluffy white rice in a bowl. Known as fast food in Japan, Gyudon is quick to prepare and packed with flavors, often topped with a raw or soft egg and pickled ginger for added taste and presentation. It belongs to the Donburi category of meals, cherished for their convenience and variety, which includes options with chicken, seafood, and tempura. Gyudon is notably featured on restaurant menus, including specialized chains like Yoshinoya and Sukiya, famed for their affordability and diverse topping options. This dish is versatile, enjoyed at any time—from fast meals on busy days to late-night snacks after parties. The refreshing pickled ginger served alongside helps cleanse the palate, enhancing the overall dining experience.Gyudon – this is Japanese fast food: Incredibly delicious, just as easy to prepare as it is to eat quickly and full of healthy ingredients, this delicious dish is served in a single bowl. It has an intense, sweet and spicy flavor and is served either simply and classically or with a variety of toppings.
Gyudon - perhaps the best Donburi!
Gyudon is one of the so-called Donburis. These are dishes that are arranged in a single bowl and are among the quick favorite meals of stressed Japanese people. They come with chicken and egg, seafood, a breaded cutlet and crispy tempura. Usually, the basis of Donburis is rice, on which various toppings are placed. Curious? Then we have a detailed article on Donburis for you here:
While of course every Japanese and Japan connoisseur has his own favorite Donburi, the Gyudon is the one that "just always fits". You will probably find it most often on the menus of Japanese restaurants. Gyudons are actually so popular that there are Gyudon restaurants that are often even open 24 hours a day! The Gyudon chain Yoshinoya is particularly popular, with branches throughout Japan. This also scores with particularly low prices. For comparison: A meal in Japan usually costs between 7 and 20 euros. But at Yoshinoya you can get by with 3 to 10 euros, depending on the size of your Gyudon order and which extras and side dishes you add.
What exactly is Gyudon?
Gyu means "beef" in translation and "Don" is a bowl. The name says it all: Gyudon consists of thinly sliced beef, which is cooked together with onions in sweet soy sauce. Meat, onions and sauce are arranged on a bed of fluffy white rice. The bowl is also often topped with a raw or soft egg and pickled ginger. Many Gyudon restaurants have also made it their mission to offer as many creative topping options as possible. At the popular Gyudon chain Sukiya , for example, you can order kimchi, cheese, fish roe with mayonnaise, wasabi and bonito flakes as add-ons.
Tip: Beef
In Japan you can get thinly sliced beef in every supermarket. In Germany it is not always easy to find. Therefore, you can either ask your butcher to cut the meat for you, or cut it yourself while it is semi-frozen.
When is Gyudon often eaten?
A delicious bowl of Gyudon actually fits almost always: It is perfect as a quick, inexpensive meal if you are short of time. The Japanese also like to eat Gyudon at the end of a long party night, and in private households Gyudon comes to the table when lunch or dinner needs to be particularly quick. By the way, you can cook Gyudon very easily - it's really not difficult!
Why is pickled ginger served with Gyudon?
Gyudon has a rather intense flavor, and ginger cleanses and refreshes your palate. The red ginger on the brown beef also provides an appetizing look.
Comments
Hey guys! What kind of meat can you specifically recommend? Just saying beef isn’t exactly specific. With pork belly, Germans at the butcher’s counter often manage to slice it thin, but today I was just at the butcher and every piece of beef the staff tried to slice on the machine just fell apart. I’d really appreciate a tip!
Hello Gandhi, Thank you for your comment! In general, you can decide according to your own taste here, which is why there’s no more specific instruction. Of course, it’s a bit unfortunate that the meat fell apart when cutting... To prevent this, you can first freeze the beef and then cut it into thin slices while still frozen. I hope this tip will help you in the future! :) Best regards, Ryusei
Bei mir wird die sauce not getting thicker, what am I doing wrong?
Hallo Eva, you're not doing anything wrong, that's how it's supposed to be. The sauce with Gyudon is always very liquid! Best regards, Ryusei
Just tried cooking it and it turned out well, but the sauce didn’t really thicken. For the meat, I used packaged beef minute steaks and cut them into small pieces... worked well :) and unfortunately I couldn’t find ginger juice, so I added some fresh ginger instead. Next, I’m going to try making Tamagoyaki.
Hallo Florian, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Good luck with the Tamagoyaki as well. Let me know how it turned out. Best regards, Ryusei