Even though both are delicious, there is far more to Japanese cuisine than sushi and hibachi. After seeing a few recipes on YouTube, I decided to try my hand at making a Donburi of my own, Gyudon to be more specific. Donburi are rice bowls and in most cases are topped with protein, likes beef, chicken, eggs, or even eel (Unadon). Gyudon is the name of the beef and rice bowl and I was attracted to the recipe because it already included all the things that I find essential in any of meals. It had a carb source (rice), a protein source (beef) and also some vegetables as well. More importantly, it looked really delicious and easy to make.
One of the cool parts of this recipe is that you will end up making a homemade teriyaki sauce. It is comprised of a ratio of 2 parts of soy sauce, 1 part of mirin, and 1 part of sake. If you were going to bottle it at that point, you would simmer it to cook off the alcohol in the sake, then cool it and bottle it up. Using the homemade teriyaki, in combination with the stock, to simmer the beef in makes for a tender and flavor packed protein source.
Last point is that this recipe is easily up scaleable and makes for a low stress dinner for the entire family. You can simmer 4-6 servings worth of beef and stock in a large pan and then scoop out the individual servings when everything is cooked through.
Gyudon a.ka. Beef and Rice Bowl
Makes 1 serving
Nutritional Value
*Values are rounded to nearest whole number
*Nutritional Value is subject to fluctuate depending on the specific ingredients that are used
Calories: 631
Fat: 15g
Carbohydrates: 79g
Protein: 37g
Ingredients
-1 cup or 200 grams of cooked white rice (sushi preferred, but jasmine, basmati, etc. is fine)
-5oz or 142 grams of Shaved Beef (steak)
-1 egg
-1/4 of an onion (yellow, white, brown, or sweet)
-2-3 stalks of scallion
-1-2 handfuls of spinach (or other leafy green of your choice)
-2 tbsp of Soy Sauce (or Coconut (Liquid) Aminos)
-1 tbsp of Mirin (optionally rice vinegar)
-1 tbsp of Sake
-(Optionally) 1 teaspoon of sugar
-3/4 cup of dashi stock (4 grams of powdered dashi in water) or chicken stock
-Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese seven spice)
Procedure
- Combine 3/4 of stock, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of mirin, and 1 tbsp of sake; mix well
- Slice 1/4 of onion into thin strands
- Slice 2-3 whites of a scallion into thin rounds; slice greens of scallion into thin rounds and reserve for garnish
- Bring combination of stock, soy sauce, mirin, and sake to a boil in a medium saucepan
- Add sliced onion to boiling stock; simmer for 2-3 minutes until onion has softened and is fragrant
- Add 1-2 handfuls of spinach to stock; wilt for 30-45 seconds
- Add 5oz shaved beef to stock; simmer for 1-2 minutes or until no longer pink
- Fill bowl with 1 cup of cooked rice
- Spoon beef beef mixture over rice; spoon some of the stock in as well
- Top bowl with an over-easy egg (cook in a pan with lid over low heat for 2-3 until white is set and yolk is still runny)
- Optionally, sprinkle on shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) and chopped greens of scallion
- Serve and enjoy
