Gyuniku Donburi…
“Gyuniku Donburi” or “Gyudon” for short, otherwise known as a “Beef Bowl” in Japan is a popular and inexpensive dish. It’s both fast food and comfort food for very little money, much in the same way as ramen. In the US, it would be comparable to a cheeseburger or a slice of pizza.
There are many variations on gyudon, much like there are many variations on pizza and burgers. Like any chef, I have my own style of making gyudon. Although I don’t serve gyudon at the restaurant, I got a cute handwritten kitchen ticket for a “Beef Donburi” and so I whipped one up.
My version calls for seasoning the rice with furikake which is a rice seasoning mix very popular to Japanese people. The mix varies and there are literally hundreds of different varieties available. Today I used a “Katsuo Fumi” furikake which is a bonito (skipjack tuna) derived variety. I seasoned the rice with the furikake, a light drizzle of sesame oil, sesame seeds and toasted and crumbled nori (dried seaweed).
As is the case with sushi, the flavor of the rice is extremely important with any donburi dish. It not only plays a significant supporting role, many would argue that the rice is actually more important, much in the same way as sushi. Purists and sushi connoisseurs will tell you that it’s the fish that compliments the rice and not vice versa. With donburi, it’s also the case that the protein is only as good as the rice that it’s accompanied with.
The seasoned rice is placed in the bowl and then drizzled with unagi (eel) sauce. For the beef, I used a New Zealand Grass Fed Ribeye which has superb flavor and is very tender. Once the beef is seared off and properly rested and sliced, the rice is topped with the sliced ribeye, along with accompanying garnishes such as a pickled ginger, thinly shaved scallions and daikon radish.
hamatama 