Gyu-don
Another super simple and classic Japanese rice bowl dish, an amazing combination of sweet and savory. I remember growing up, I would be so excited to have those frozen beef rice bowls from Chinese supermarkets, heat them up, and have them for lunch. Still one of my dad's all time favorite dishes. Although I didn't quite cook this perfectly correctly (I sliced the beef too thick for my preference, and also in the wrong direction), it still turned out pretty good. This recipe is good for two small bowls or one very large bowl.
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 20 min
Ingredients
> sliced beef (1/2 lb)
> onion (1 small)
> dashi (2x concentrated, 1/4 cup)
> sake (2 tbsp), mirin (2 tbsp), soy sauce (2 tbsp), sugar (1.5 tbsp)
> ginger, scallions
> (optional) egg, Japanese red pepper powder
Instructions
1. Add the dashi, sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar into a pan, mix well, and bring up to a simmer over medium heat.
2. Chop the onion into thin slices. Separate them and add it to the pan.
3. After simmering the onion for a couple of minutes, add the sliced beef to pan. Stir to ensure that the slices are separated and simmering in the liquid.
4. Add a slice of raw ginger to the mixture, and let it simmer in the liquid for 2 minutes, then remove.
5. Serve the beef, onion, and as much of the broth as you'd like over a bowl of rice. Optionally, top with thinly sliced scallions, a poached egg, and Japanese red pepper powder. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> When I made this dish, I bought a strip steak and sliced it myself. This would probably work fine if you prefer your slices of meat thicker (just make sure to cut it against the grain, unlike me). However, I generally prefer my meat sliced thinner so that it cooks faster and feels more tender - in that case you'd probably want to go for the pre-sliced meats at your local Asian supermarket.
> Classic mixture of dashi, sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar once again forms the base of this sauce. The reason why I recommend 2x concentrated dashi (really, just add the appropriate amount of Hondashi for 1/2 cup of broth when you only use 1/4 cup) is because I try to avoid using too much liquid when making this dish. I like there to be not too much extra broth at the end.
> I think that adding a bit of ginger lifts the flavor, but a lot of places go way overboard with the ginger flavor (read: Yoshinoya). In order to achieve a very subtle ginger flavor, I like to let a single slice simmer for a couple of minutes to release a bit of flavor into the broth.
> I'd recommend mixing a bit of dark soy sauce along with some light soy sauce, in order to achieve a slightly darker, more aesthetic look. The whole dish looks a bit pale and gray without it.