Gyudon: A Quick and Easy Japanese Beef Rice Bowl
Simmered with Onions in a Sweet/Savory Sauce
Simmered Beef with Rice (Guydon) | photo by Dara O’Brien
By Dara O’Brien
Creative Director, Lake Isle Press
My friend is the child of Japanese immigrants, thus she grew up eating a lot of traditional Japanese cuisine. From time to time, she’ll talk about some of the meals her mother made, and I want to eat almost all of them. Take, for example, her sukiyaki. Her mom had the local butcher slice the beef so it was razor-thin, and simmered it in a delicate sauce my friend cannot replicate, try as she might. Her mom died some years ago, and, alas, her recipes went with her.
I would imagine most of us have at least one or two memorable dishes from our childhood that we wish we could have again. Now, after listening to my friend talk about her mom’s cooking, it’s food from her childhood I want, like that sukiyaki.
My interest is a response to how special and tasty she makes the food sound, combined with ongoing Netflix mini-binges of the Japanese TV series “Midnight Diner.” If you don’t know it, it’s about a Tokyo diner that’s open from midnight to seven am. The man who runs it will make any dish his customers want as long as he has the ingredients. In those hours of suspended time, customers’ thoughts often turn to the food of their childhood, and they ask him to make a particular dish from their past. Each episode focuses on a different customer and spotlights the dish they request.
So between my friend’s food memories and the longings of “Midnight Diner” habitués, I have Japanese food on my brain. It’s been kind of a revelation for me, since I had come to equate Japanese food with sushi, sashimi, and seaweed—and raw fish is most definitely not my thing. So I have never explored Japanese cuisine, which is so much more than sushi it’s hard to even know where to begin.
I decided to start easy, with a sort of entry-level sukiyaki called gyudon, which is a Japanese fast-food staple. Like sukiyaki, it’s thin-sliced beef, and it’s simmered in a savory-sweet sauce that is similar or the same as is in sukiyaki, depending on the recipe; a foundation of sugar, soy, mirin, and maybe sake. To make gyudon, add onions to the beef, cook them in the sauce, and serve the mixture over rice with or without an egg. Sukiyaki is a bit more complicated and is served over noodles with vegetables.
I found a gyudon recipe by Machiko Chiba in her book, “The Cook-Zen Way to Eat” published by Lake Isle Press. It's a simple dish, and Machiko makes it even easier because her recipe is cooked via microwave in her Cook-Zen cook pot.
The Cook-Zen is Machiko’s specially-designed two-quart pot for the microwave that heats quickly and evenly. It’s like Instant Pot for the microwave but smaller (and you don’t have to wait for the steam to release when it’s done). This would be my first time microwaving a steak, which I admit sounded odd, but I was game to try.
I used top round, but you might also use chuck, ribeye, or eye of round. (Japanese grocers sell paper-thin pre-sliced beef, and perhaps thin-sliced beef for cheesesteaks in the supermarket could do in a pinch). I put the beef in the freezer for half an hour to make it easier to manage very thin slices. I wanted to be careful to not overcook and set the microwave on level eight for seven minutes. The result was a tad well done, and some of the beef came out of the pot in clumps. I served it with Arborio rice and it was tasty—and worth trying again to see how much tastier it could be.
So I made gyudon once more, and the second time around, as I had before, I put the meat in the freezer for half an hour before slicing. Then I layered the slices individually into the pot so they wouldn’t get tangled. I also added a teaspoon of fresh ginger to the sauce to sharpen its savory notes, and as before, I cut the sugar by a third to just one tablespoon. I set the microwave temperature to level six and the timer to six minutes. The result was tender meat and a more flavorful dish overall.
Since I’d never tasted gyudon before, I wanted to be sure I got it right, so I brought the second batch to my friend for a taste test, and she approved. I usually associate stir-frying with garlic and heat, but as she pointed out, a lot of Japanese dishes rely on a much more delicate balance of flavors. It’s a different experience than a fiery Szechuan stir-fry or hot Thai curry, but full and satisfying and gratifyingly light. For a person like me who can be timid about trying new ingredients and flavor combinations, gyudon offers a great introduction to the subtle balance of flavors in Japanese cuisine.
The Cook-Zen pot | Dara O’Brien
Simmered Beef (Gyudon) Recipe
2 servings
Cook Time 8 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 large onion, halved and sliced
½ pound beef round, thinly sliced
2 ½ to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon water
PREPARATION
Place all the ingredients in the Cook-Zen. Lightly mix. Cover and heat on medium-high for 7 to 8 minutes with the steam holes set to “close.” Serve the beef with sauce over a bowl of rice*.
*Japanese white rice can be used, but you can substitute any kind of rice. Brown, jasmine, and basmati all work well.
Simmered Beef (Gyudon) Recipe
from “The Cook-Zen Way to Eat: Microwaving Healthy and Delicious Meals in Minutes”
by Machiko Chiba, Lake Isle Press, 2010
In THE COOK-ZEN WAY TO EAT: Microwaving Healthy and Delicious Meals in Minutes, the follow-up to THE COOK-ZEN COOKBOOK (also Lake Isle Press), Machiko Chiba has returned with more incredible Cook-Zen recipes made in minutes. From international favorites such as Asian-Style Spareribs, Thai Green Curry Chicken, and Steak Teriyaki, to all-American classics such as Chili Con Carne, Classic Mashed Potatoes, and Barbecued Beans—entire meals can be made in just one pot. Whether you wish to entertain with Scallop Pilaf and Mussels Steamed with Wine and Garlic or have an easy night in with a bowl of Corn Chowder, you’ll find the perfectly simple and healthy solution in THE COOK-ZEN WAY TO EAT.
Featuring many inspiring and elegant photographs plus simple step-by-step instructions for how to use the Cook-Zen, Machiko Chiba’s microwave cook pot. Its patented design locks in moisture and distributes heat evenly, producing dishes you’d never dream of making in a microwave. Like a pressure cooker, the Cook-Zen pot reduces cooking times to mere minutes for healthy, delicious meals made simply and quickly.
ALSO FROM THE COOK-ZEN WAY TO EAT:
Pork and Vegetable Stew
Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Potatoes and Onions
FIND OUT MORE
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