As a college student, I can relate to Mirai. She is really poor, is always looking for money to buy new food, and always eats A TON. We’re basically the same person. Besides the whole, you know, blood sword thingy she’s got going on. That’s pretty unsual, but I could cut off a finger or something and make a pretty convincing cosplay using my own blood. I’d slowly bleed out and probably die, but you know, cosplaying is SERIOUS BUSINESS. Ok, is that too gross to think about? I’m grossing myself out…
One thing Mirai eats in the series is Gyudon, which literally means beef bowl. The reason she eats this is because Gyudon is really really inexpensive in Japan. It’s made with the cheapest cut of beef, simmered down to be tender and juicy in a delicious slightly sweet-salty broth. In face, this dish is so popular in Japan it can be found in a number of other anime, notably Steins;Gate (right) and Shokugeki no Soma (left).
The thing about this dish is that it’s AMAZING. It tastes so good and is incredibly satisfying. It’s definitely one of those comfort foods, and since I’m cold on the West Coast and missing Japan, I’m going to make it for the blog here today. Below is the Gyudon we’ll be recreating.
The Ingredients
1 medium onion
1 pound thinly sliced beef
1 cup Dashi stock or ingredients to make it
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs Sake
2 tbs Mirin
2 bowls full of rice, about 2 cups dry
Make Ze Gyudon
Step one is to get your dashi stock together. You can make it from scratch, from granuals, or from a satchet. I’m making mine today from a sachet. All I have to do is bring my water to a boil, throw in the sachet, and boil for 5 minutes. Then, I remove from the heat.
While that’s boiling away, thinly slice your onion and cut your thin strips of beef into bite size pieces. If you can’t find thinly sliced beef at your grocery store, check with the butcher in your supermarket to see if they can thinly slice, about 1/8th inch, a chuck roast. Chuck is a cheap, fatty cut of meat that is perfect for gyudon.
Next, place the dashi stock, and onions in a frying pan. Let the onions soften over med-high heat, about 5 minutes. Then, add in the seasonings and stir to combine.
Then, pile your beef on top, and toss to coat completely in sauce and brown up.
It will be done when your beef has been completely browned.
Serve the whole thing over a bowl of rice. This dish is traditionally garnished with beni shoga, but in the anime it doesn’t have any.
Enjoy! Thanks so much for reading, I hope you liked the post. Like this post if you love Kyoukai no Kanata, Steins;Gate, or Shokugeki no Soma. Leave any comments with questions or ideas of what I can post next! Happy cooking 🙂 Try not to cut your fingers off while making this…no need to be that realistic.