Better Than Takeout Beef Donburi Recipe

If you love Japanese food, then you'll likely be a fan of beef donburi. It's basically a rice bowl topped with a type of meat and vegetables. The dish has a blend of flavors and textures that will surely please anyone's palate and it's a meal on its own. The dish is a popular menu item at many Japanese restaurants, but you can also assemble it without much trouble at home.  

Are you thinking of cooking the delicious rice bowl? Thankfully, recipe developer, pastry chef, and author of FrenchietheToast, Eric Ngo, created an easy-to-follow recipe that anyone can recreate. Although he notes that it's an intermediate-level recipe, don't be afraid to give it a try. According to Ngo, the word "donburi" means "bowl," and it is often shortened to "don" when paired with whatever type of meat, like Katsudon, where pork or chicken tops the rice. For Ngo's recipe, he used sirloin steak, and according to the chef, the dish is technically called "Gyudon" — which means "beef bowl."

One way to make the preparation easier is to gather your ingredients beforehand. You can also do the measurements and place each ingredient in plates or small bowls. The key ingredients of our beef donburi recipe are going to be Japanese rice and sirloin steak, but you'll also want to gather up egg, green onion, and black pepper. For the flavors of the dish, you can scout mirin, soy sauce, sake, dashi, enoki mushrooms, and sesame seeds at an Asian grocery or the Asian foods section of your local supermarket. 

If you can't find sake, Ngo recommends using white cooking wine, but this ingredient is completely optional. As for dashi, he also suggests using water as a substitute. Can't find Japanese rice? No problem. You can use alternatives like brown rice, Jasmine rice, and so on. "Japanese rice is the most authentic version, but you can substitute it with your personal rice preference," says Ngo.

To get started, place one part of Japanese rice in a medium saucepan and add two parts of water. Cover the pan and leave it over low to medium-low heat for a span of 15 to 20 minutes. While waiting for the rice, you can work on the other ingredients, just be sure to check your rice from time to time. When the rice has absorbed all the water, try it to make sure it's tender and then remove it from heat before moving on to the next step.

When you buy the meat from a butcher, you can specifically ask them to cut the steak for you. Then again, you can also slice the sirloin steak on your own into thin slices. A little tip is to place the meat in the freezer for 10 minutes to make slicing easier. When done, place the meat on a plate and set it aside. Don't put your cutting boards away just yet. You'll need to grab the enoki mushrooms and slice them horizontally into three equal parts, before setting them aside.

In a small bowl, combine mirin, soy sauce, sake (or white cooking wine), and dashi (or water). Mix well and set aside. Next, head back to your cutting board and cut the green onion into thin slices. Now separate the white part from the green part and place them on two separate small bowls. When you're done, it's time to move on to the best part — which is cooking. To get started, heat the pan on low to medium heat.

The preparation has come to an end, and you're now ready to cook the beef donburi. In the pan, add the white part of the green onion, followed by the mixture (mirin, soy sauce, sake, and dashi), and cook for 1 minute. Then, add the sliced sirloin steak to the pan and cook until medium. Next, add the enoki mushrooms and the white part of the green onions to the beef. Mix together and cook for another minute.

Place your cooked rice in a bowl, and set it aside. To make the rice bowl topping, separate the egg yolk and the egg white. In the same saucepan with your beef, cook the egg white first for 30 seconds, then add the egg yolk for an additional 1 minute on medium heat. When finished, place the meat on the edges of the rice bowl to make space for the egg. Add the cooked egg into the rice bowl and sprinkle with the remaining green onion, sesame seeds, and pepper. Serve while hot and enjoy!