Gyudon

Japan's beloved beef and onion rice bowl: paper-thin beef and sweet onion simmered in dashi, soy, and mirin until glazed and trembling: the dish that made the Japanese fall in love with the Western onion

Origin: Japan

From the journey of Onion.

Gyudon (gyu = beef, don = bowl) is one of Japan's most eaten dishes and the flagship preparation of the Yoshinoya and Sukiya fast-food chains; restaurants that serve gyudon 24 hours a day to millions of Japanese workers and students. The dish is a product of the Meiji-era (1868–1912) yōshoku tradition: Japanese cooking adapted from Western ingredients and techniques, producing new preparations that are entirely Japanese in spirit. The onion; Allium cepa, the European bulb onion; was introduced to Japan in the Meiji period and became central to several new comfort dishes. In gyudon, thinly sliced onions and paper-thin beef are simmered together in a sweet-savoury broth of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin until the onion is completely tender and transparent, the beef is glazed and silky, and the sauce has reduced to a glossy coating. The whole preparation takes 15 minutes, costs almost nothing, and produces one of the most satisfying combinations in Japanese cuisine; proof that the onion's transformation through heat is as remarkable in the Japanese idiom as in the French, Persian, or Indian.

Ingredients

Meat

  • 300 g beef (sirloin or ribeye), sliced as thinly as possible, ask your butcher, or freeze 30 minutes first to firm for easy slicing

Onions

  • 2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced into half-moons

Liquid

  • 200 ml dashi stock (from packet, liquid concentrate, or home-made)

Seasoning

  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tbsp sake (or dry sherry)
  • 2 tsp caster sugar

Base

  • 2 portions steamed Japanese short-grain rice, to serve

Optional

  • 2 large eggs (for soft-poached or raw egg on top, optional but traditional)

Garnish

  • 2 stalks spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced, to serve
  • 1 tsp pickled red ginger (beni shoga), to serve

Method

  1. Combine the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar in a wide pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
  2. Add the sliced onions. Cook over medium heat for 6–8 minutes until the onion is completely tender, transparent, and has absorbed the flavour of the broth.
  3. Add the thinly sliced beef in a single layer. Cook for just 1–2 minutes until the beef changes colour; no longer. The beef should be cooked through but still tender and silky.
  4. If the sauce seems thin, increase heat for 1 minute to reduce it to a glossy, slightly syrupy consistency that coats the beef and onion.
  5. Serve over hot steamed rice in deep bowls. Ladle the beef, onion, and sauce generously over the rice. Top with sliced spring onions and pickled ginger.

Notes

Gyudon became a political flashpoint in Japan in 2004 when the US banned Japanese import of American beef following a BSE (mad cow) scare. Yoshinoya, the largest gyudon chain, removed beef bowls from the menu entirely for two years rather than use Australian beef, which it considered inferior for the dish. This decision, widely covered in Japanese media, reveals how seriously the Japanese take the specific qualities of gyudon's ingredients. The episode demonstrated that gyudon had become a cultural institution rather than merely a fast-food item. The dish returned to Yoshinoya's menus in 2006 and is now as popular as ever.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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