Name: Easy and Delicious Gyudon Japanese Beef Bowl
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
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; 1/2 cup soy sauce; 1/2 cup sake; 1/2 cup mirin; 4 tbsp sugar; pickled ginger (for garnish - as much as you want!!)

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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.

Watch this video on YouTube

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.

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.

This beef bowl goes great with a simple side like my Easy Japanese Cabbage with Butter Soy Sauce.

Enjoy!!!

BTW 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. 🙂

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