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Home » Recipes

Easy and Delicious Gyudon Japanese Beef Bowl

Mar 18, 2020Last Modified: September 12, 2022

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beef and onions simmering in a sauce
Easy AND Delicious Gyūdon Japanese Beef Bowl

We just returned from a once in a lifetime trip to Japan. We spent 3 weeks there and it was absolutely amazing! In addition to seeing some incredible places, we also had the opportunity to experience many Japanese foods. Some of these meals were in restaurants, but some took place in the AirBnb's in which we stayed. One of the meals in an AirBnb was particularly memorable - Easy and Delicious Gyudon!

I had wanted to cook a Japanese dish myself when in Japan, and my friend Makoto, of @kyushu.island.cooking on Instagram, came to the rescue!

Simple and Few Ingredients Needed!

This recipe for Gyudon, literally "beef bowl", is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with ingredients including sake, soy sauce and mirin. The finishing touch is some pickled ginger on top.

Thin beef, onion, sugar, sake, soy sauce, mirin, ginger, pickled ginger, rice
Ingredients for Gyūdon

This is Makoto's recipe, and she recommended that I make this dish. She took time to consider what meal may be easy for travelers to create and she steered me to Gyudon.

The ingredients for Easy and Delicious Gyudon are: thinly sliced beef, onion, ginger, sake, mirin, soy sauce, water, sugar, and some brightly colored pickled ginger as a garnish. 🙂 You can buy most of these ingredients in your local Asian grocery, or shop Amazon for pickled ginger, mirin, and soy sauce, as seen below.

pickled ginger
Pickled ginger
mirin
Mirin
Soy sauce
Soy Sauce
Ginger and pickled ginger
Ginger and Pickled Ginger

Easy and Delicious Japanese Recipe!

Prep takes around 5 minutes. Cook time takes around 10 minutes. I used ready made rice that just needed heating up to keep things simple and voila! In around 15 minutes you will have a delicious beef dish served on top of rice (beef rice bowl) that your whole family will adore!

Gyudon on rice topped with pickled ginger in a bowl
Gyudon (Japanese beef bowl) served on top of rice! Absolutely delicious!

Whether traveling or not, you will absolutely love this Gyudon! Deliciously simmered beef in gorgeous spices and served over rice topped with pickled ginger. Enjoy!!!

I didn't have a Donburi bowl (Japanese rice bowl) to serve this in when I made it, but I think serving this dish in a Donburi bowl (such as the one below) would definitely enhance the experience. 🙂

donburi bowl
Donburi bowl
Gyudon, chopsticks and Japanese Kit Kat

You want to follow Makoto on Instagram at @kyushu.island.cooking! Please view this link for a trip to her blog! She shares incredible Japanese recipes and also hosts genuine cooking experiences in Kyushu Island!

Find her recipe and link to Makoto's blog here: https://japanese-food-cooking.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-to-make-gyudon.html

And join us for more food fun by signing up for our email list here. 🙂

You may also enjoy these other incredible Japanese dishes!

Yurinchi Chicken

Pieces of fried chicken atop iceberg lettuce drizzled with a soy based sauce and topped with sliced green onions on a white plate.

Delicious Japanese Pork Katsudon and Rice Bowl

Slices of breaded pork on top of rice and garnished with green onions there are some cooked onions on the left side of the pork and purple chopsticks resting on the bowl.
Gyudon which is slices of beef and onion on top of rice and garnished with pickled ginger in a white bowl, chopsticks and Japanese Kit Kat

Easy and Delicious Gyudon Japanese Beef Bowl

Makoto
Incredible bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with ingredients including sake, soy sauce and mirin. The finishing touch is some pickled ginger on top. What more do you need?! 🙂
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb sliced beef (thin) you should be able to find this at your local Asian market
  • 1 onion sliced thinly
  • 4 in ginger peeled and sliced into thin strips
  • 1.5 cups water or beef broth
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • ½ cup sake
  • ½ cup mirin
  • 4 tablespoon sugar
  • pickled ginger for garnish - as much as you want!!

Instructions
 

  • Slice onion and ginger thinly.
  • Put sliced onion, ginger, sake, water, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce in pan, and put it over middle heat and bring it to boil
  • Add sliced beef, lower the heat, and boil it down for about 10 min.
  • Serve rice in a “Donburi” bowl, put simmered beef over it, and decorate the dish with some pickled ginger
Keyword beef bowl
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Cheers!


どうぞお召し上がりください
Dōzo omeshiagarikudasai (enjoy your meal in Japanese!) 

Grace

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About Me

Hi I’m Grace! I'm married and a mom to my fur baby, Toby, and food and travel are two of my greatest passions! Since our bank account does not allow us to travel or eat out as much as we'd like, I decided I would cook delicious meals that could give us a taste of all the places we'd like to go. My goal is to get you in the kitchen, and inspire you to cook and taste delightful meals that will transport you too. Let’s throw some actual travel in from time to time, all with an emphasis on keeping your wallet full and happy as well. Let’s get cooking and let’s start exploring!! I'm excited to be on this journey with you!!

By the way most of these recipes are Toby taste tested and Toby approved!!

Chief Taste Tester Toby

Toby Chief Taste Tester

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