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A weeknight favorite with thinly sliced beef + tender onions in a sweet and savory sauce! So quick + easy!
This is one of those lightening fast speedy weeknight-worthy dinners. With just a handful of ingredients and minimal prep time, this comes together in 45 min, start to finish (and for most of the time, we’re just letting it simmer).
So what exactly is gyudon? Gyudon is a traditional Japanese beef bowl, a popular fast food item thanks to Yoshinoya, with thinly sliced beef and sweet onion in a quick-simmered sweet and savory soy-based sauce.
The key is using paper thin cut beef here, readily available in most Asian grocery stores. And they’ll have kombu and bonito flakes as well for your dashi broth (more on that below). Or you can place the ribeye in the freezer until firm, slicing as thin as possible. This thin cut of beef makes this dish super fast comfort food.
TOOLS FOR THIS RECIPE
WHAT IS GYUDON?
Gyudon is a traditional Japanese beef bowl with thinly sliced beef and sweet onion in a quick-simmered sweet and savory soy-based sauce.
WHY USE DASHI BROTH?
The dashi broth can be made easily from scratch using water, kombu (seaweed) and bonito flakes in a very quick 10 minute simmer, forming the base of this dish. It infuses the thinly sliced beef with all the flavor, keeping it tender and moist.
WHAT DO YOU SERVE THIS WITH?
Gyudon is traditionally served with a raw egg yolk (or fried egg, if desired), pickled ginger, green onions and sesame seeds. Or sometimes we just serve over microwave rice when there isn’t enough time!
- 1 cup sushi rice
- 1 ½ cups sliced sweet onion
- ¼ cup dry sake
- ¼ cup mirin
- 3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 pound boneless ribeye steak, thinly sliced
- 4 fried eggs
- ¼ cup benishoga, red pickled ginger
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
for the dashi broth
- 4 cups water
- ½ ounce dried kombu
- ½ ounce dried bonito flakes
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In a large saucepan of 1 1 /2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
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Heat dashi broth, onion, sake, mirin, soy sauce and sugar in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, about 8 minutes.
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Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender, about 5 minutes.
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Stir in beef until cooked through and tender, about 2-3 minutes; season with additional soy sauce, to taste.
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Divide rice into bowls. Top with beef, eggs and pickled ginger, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.
for the dashi broth
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In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water and kombu. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
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Stir in bonito flakes; let stand 5 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve; discard solids.