Gyudon
Thin-sliced beef simmered with onion in sweet-savoury dashi-soy-mirin, ladled over rice.
Ingredients
- 350 g Beef short rib
- 300 g Japanese short-grain rice
- 1 Onion
- 5 g Kombu (dried kelp)
- 8 g Katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
- 3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 3 tbsp Mirin
- 2 tbsp Sake
- 1½ tbsp Sugar
- 15 g Ginger
- 2 Scallions (optional)
- 2 Egg (optional)
Method
- Soak the kombu in a pot of cold water to make the base for the dashi (a kombu-and-bonito stock).
- Bring the kombu water over medium-low just to the first bubbles, then lift the kombu out. Take the pot off the heat, scatter in the bonito flakes, and let them steep briefly before straining the dashi into a clean pan.
- Rinse the rice in cold water until it runs nearly clear. Drain.
- Combine the rice with an equal volume of fresh water in a heavy saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Drop the heat to its lowest setting and cook, lid on. Don't lift the lid.
- Pull the pot off the heat and rest, lid on.
- Slice the onion thin lengthwise. Grate the ginger. Slice the beef as thin as you can manage (freezing it briefly first gives cleaner slices).
- Combine the dashi, soy, mirin, sake, sugar, and ginger in a wide pan and bring to a simmer. Add the onion and cook until limp.
- Slide the beef in and separate the slices with chopsticks. Simmer until just cooked through, skimming any foam.
- Spoon the rice into bowls. Ladle the beef-onion topping with plenty of sauce over the rice. Crack a soft egg on top if using and scatter scallions.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Gyudon
Gyudon, literally beef bowl, is a Japanese donburi of thin-sliced beef and onion simmered in a sweet-savory broth and ladled over hot rice. It's fast, comforting everyday food, the sort of dish served at chain counters across Japan yet easy to make far better at home. This version builds its foundation from scratch with a proper dashi drawn from kombu and bonito flakes, which gives the simmering liquid a savory depth that ready-made shortcuts can't quite match.
The beef here is short rib sliced thin, so it turns tender quickly in the mixture of dashi, soy, mirin, sake, and sugar, soaking up the glossy sweet-salty sauce while the onion melts into softness. The result is rich, deeply savory, and faintly sweet, the beef and onion spooned over short-grain rice that catches the sauce. It's often crowned with a raw or soft egg and a scatter of scallion, adding silkiness and freshness against the warm bowl. As a one-bowl meal it's endlessly satisfying, and the homemade dashi rewards the extra effort with a cleaner, more layered flavor throughout.
Gyudon: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Gyudon?
A serving has about 666 calories — 32.4g protein, 94.2g carbs, 13g fat, 0.9g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 32.4g of protein, roughly 19% of its calories.
Is Gyudon gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu). You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
How long does Gyudon take to make?
About 50 minutes start to finish, but only around 25 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Gyudon?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out scallions, egg — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Gyudon make?
This recipe makes 3 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.