Copycat Yoshinoya Beef Bowls taste just like the popular fast food beef bowl recipe, Gyudon, from Japan!
Remember that time I spent the summer in Japan and gained like, 15lbs from drinking too much Peach Chu-Hi and eating WAY too many gyoza?
Well, there’s something else to blame for all the weight I packed onto my short little frame in 3 short months — Yoshinoya Beef Bowls.
Yoshinoya is a fast-casual restaurant chain in Japan that’s famous for its beef bowls containing white rice and piles of thinly shaven, tender beef on top. Sounds weird – taste AMAZING.
(source)
They’re pretty much everywhere and you can get in and out in under 15 minutes, making it ideal for stopping in for a quick lunch, bite after work, nosh after the bars…
I was incredibly Japan-sick after returning home at the end of that summer, and simply had to recreate the beef bowls at home.
Calling for just six low-fuss ingredients, I think I got pretty close!
Start by bringing beef broth, soy sauce or gluten-free Tamari, mirin, and a little sugar to a boil.
Mirin is a Japanese cooking wine that you can get at any grocery store these days.
After the liquid comes to a boil, add thinly sliced onions, turn the heat down to medium, then simmer until tender, about 5 minutes.
Finally, add very thinly sliced beef loin. I’ve had my butcher do the slicing for me before, otherwise pop the beef into the freezer until it slightly hardens then slice it.
The thinner the better!
Since the beef is sliced so thin, it takes just a minute or two to cook in the hot broth. It’s kind of like Pho in this way.
Pile the tender beef and onion slices over fluffy white rice, drizzle with some of the broth, and you’re set!
The sauce in this dish is so delicate. Neither salty, nor sweet — it’s just right.
Mixed with the melt-in-your-mouth beef and onions, I am sent straight back to the counter at my local Yoshinoya with just one bite.
Copycat Yoshinoya Beef Bowls
Ingredients
- 1-1/3 cups beef broth
- 5 Tablespoons gluten free reduced-sodium Tamari, or soy sauce if not GF
- 3 Tablespoons mirin
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 small yellow onion, cut in half then very thinly sliced
- 1 lb top sirloin steak, sliced very thin against the grain
- cooked white rice, for serving
Directions
- Bring the beef broth, Tamari or soy sauce, mirin, and sugar to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium then add the onions and simmer until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the beef slices into the hot broth then simmer until just barely cooked through, 1-2 minutes. Scoop the onions and beef over cooked white rice then drizzle with the cooking liquid and serve.
Notes
- Tip: to slice the beef very thinly, place the steak into the freezer for 20-30 minutes first.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Looks so good, I think I will try this sometime this week! I love to travel! Especially while being so young!
I went on a 3 week exchange to France in high school but that is about it. I would have loved to stayed longer and actually gone to school there now but at the time I didn’t see it like that.
I had a boss that used to nap under her desk and actually lay on the floor and throw temper tantrums! It was crazy now that I think back to it – and it was only a few years ago!
There’s tons of Yoshinoya’s in California! It is just as delicious in CA as it is in Taiwan (the only other place I’ve had Yoshinoya). :)
I had a boss who kept calling me by my coworker’s name (Christina), and called Christina my name. She sometimes got it right but usually didn’t. We both happen to be Asian but that’s where the physical similarities stop – its pretty hard to get us mixed up. And when she got corrected, either by one of us or one of our other coworkers, she said it didn’t make a difference since, “we’re all the same.” She didn’t have any trouble with any of the other staff’s names, just us Asians… Needless to say, I didn’t stay in that job long.
That looks amazing! I just found Mirin for a teriyaki dish, now I’m going to have to try this.
As for crazy bosses, mine was the craziest. Worked for him for 15 years and there wasn’t a day that went by that we all rolled our eyes and went with it. Crazy!
OK, so i’ve been reading you in my google reader at work for months now, and i just clicked over today… the site redesign looks AMAZING!!!! I love it!!!
Studying abroad were my favorite parts of college by far. I was lucky that my school had a winter session so you could study abroad for 5-6 weeks without missing an entire semester. My winters in Greece and Ecuador were both amazing!
I’ve been to Costa Rica and Mexico twice but never for more than a week – still awesome experiences! This looks awesome. You should give us a pho recipe some time :) I can’t imagine eating it every day, though!
There’s a whole load of Yoshinoya outlets in Singapore, but I’ve never gone to any of them primarily because everyone I know says that it isn’t worth it. :( The recipe looks so simple though! I’d love to try it with minced chicken or something.
I felt the same way after returning from a visit to Europe. I was heavy into English lit and obsessed with Ann Rice. I reread my copies of the vampire chronicles over and over. All my studying and living has been stateside…which accounts for my unhealthy addiction to good ol’ southern food. . . and the status of my thighs.
Oh Camp Adventure, my roommate had many stories from her Summer in Germany with them. I kind of wish I could go, but at least I’ll get to be abroad this summer, I’m PUMPED!
Hmm, as for bosses, my two bosses just incredibly unprofessional. Good times.
I studied abroad for one month in the summer in Costa Rica! I took classes during the week in the capital, but the weekends were free to travel places :) I lived with a Costa Rican family, too, which was cool!
As for crazy bosses, I worked at an ice cream store one summer/fall, and though the boss was kind-hearted she also had a temper, and yelled at us for making our ice cream cones “too big”!
By the way, love the new site design!
Oh yeah, also studied/had fun in France for two weeks in high school :D A week in Paris + a week in southern France living with a host family = bliss
did you get a new camera or a new lens? or something to make your photos look different?! it’s all beautiful!
I did! Still learning how to use it AND deal with the darkness at 4:30pm!
This sounds absolutely delish! I’m going to have to try it soon. And with the onions being so soft like that, my cherubs might actually eat them too. :)
I never got to study abroad. However, due to where I live in the country — I FEEL like I’m living in a different country right now!
As for boss stories, I could totally hijack your blog comments with stories from the years I worked for Satan himself.