
‘Gyū Don’ is a rice bowl dish. Thinly sliced Beef and Onion simmered in a sweet soy sauce flavoured dashi stock is placed on rice. It is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. Probably every family has its own recipe. In Melbourne where I live, thinly sliced Beef is not widely available. When I cook Gyū Don, I have to slice a block of Beef thinly using a knife by myself, and it is getting harder to do with my aching hands. Here is the Minced Beef version. Super easy and anyone can cook it.
Makes
4 Servings
Ingredients
500g Beef Mince
1 to 2 Onions
1 small piece Ginger *sliced into thin strips
50 to 100g Harusame Noodles (Dry Noodles made from potato or mung bean starch)
4 servings freshly Cooked Rice
Pickled Ginger *optional
Shichimi (Japanese Chilli Spice Mix) *optional
Sauce
1 cup Dashi Stock *OR 1 cup Water and 1 teaspoon Dashi Powder
2 tablespoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Mirin
4 to 5 tablespoons Soy Sauce
Method
- Heat Dashi Stock, Sugar, Mirin and Soy Sauce in a frypan or a large sauce pan over a medium heat, add Onion and Ginger.
- When it’s started boiling, place Beef Mince on top the Onion, breaking down into small pieces using your fingers, and cook for 10 minutes OR until Onion is soft.
- Make some room to add Harusame Noodles into the sauce, and cook until the Noodles turn transparent. Harusame Noodles will suck up the sauce.
- Half fill a bowl with freshly Cooked Rice and cover it with the Beef mixture. Serve with Pickle Ginger if you like. Today I sprinkled with some Shichimi (Japanese Chilli Spice Mix).
Comments
Bonnie
12/06/2025
Thanks for the recipe, can I use rice vermicelli instead of Harusame if I can’t find it?
Hiroko
12/06/2025
Hi Bonnie. Thank you for your interest in this recipe. I don’t think rice vermicelli can be a substitute. If you can’t find it, forget about it. You don’t need to add it.
Dustin
1/05/2025
Hello! 👋 i love your recipe. I made it for my wife and she loved it. Normally, she hates onions. I did not say to her that there are onions, i just didn’t give her any 🤫 🤭. It left me fascinated by your other recipes and as I look at them, i find myself looking forward to trying more of them. These recipes remind me of the food that the mother of my best friend, Harumi/okasa, would cook and it makes me feel nostalgic for her cooking. Thank you for this valuable home cooking style recipes. 🙏
Hiroko
1/05/2025
Hi Dustin. Thank you for your comment. I am so happy to know you cooked it for your wife (and she enjoyed it)!!! If this dish made you feel nostalgic, you will find a lot more recipes that you enjoy on my website. Please find them, and cook them for your wife.
Mirte
31/03/2025
I tried this and it was so incredibly good. Thank you for writing this easy recipe. It made my day!
Hiroko
1/04/2025
Hi Mirte. Thank you for you comment. I’m glad you like the recipe. There are many more easy recipes on my website. I hope you will find something you like.
Coco
20/04/2023
Hi Hiroko! I made this for a hiking trip last weekend. I stuffed it inside of some inari-zushi and it was amazing (I cut the noodles into pieces to make it easier to eat). Thank you for sharing this recipe with us :)
Hiroko
20/04/2023
Hi Coco. Thank you for posting this comment. I am now picturing you eating Inari-zushi wrapper stuffed with this beef mixture, outdoor, somewhere beautiful, maybe under a tree. I wish you enjoyed a memorable day.