Welcome to The Avocado’s weekly discussion of Japanese pop culture! I haven’t had as much time for bento or other Japanese cooking the last couple months, but last night I made Gyudon 牛丼 for the first time. So now I can share that with all of you! I don’t know why it took me this long to make this dish because I first encountered in during our Japan trip in 2018. On of our first day in Kyoto 京都 we had lunch at a cafe, and it was one of my favorite meals (ok, I say that about pretty much everything we ate, but still). Here’s a picture:
The salad was also delicious. サラダもおいしかった！
Maybe it was because we had just arrived after a train and bus ride, but it was the perfect meal for that moment. Filling but not heavy and definitely energizing. Anyway, last night I made this Just One Cookbook recipe, and it was delicious! And super easy. Only hurdle is not having access to thinly sliced beef where I live. I’ve encountered this problem before, so I use the method of putting it in the freezer for about an hour or so and then slicing it as thinly as possible. This time, I definitely could have sliced it thinner, but it was still really good. This just requires a little more patience than I had last night (read: I was hungry). I actually forgot what kind of beef was recommended when I was shopping, but ribeye looked right so that’s what I got. Turned out to be right! I wanted to add whisked egg too, but because I knew I was going to save half of it to eat later I opted for a soft-boiled egg instead1 In addition to the egg, I added some broccoli because I knew I didn’t want a salad (I had a salad with my lunch), but I wanted something green. I chopped up a couple of florets and added them to the pan with the onions, and cooked it for 2 minutes with the lid on before adding the beef. This worked well. One thing I’ll change is putting more of the sauce on the rice. Again, because I was splitting half to eat later, I was worried about using too much for this portion. I didn’t need to be worried. The leftover portion will have plenty of sauce.
I was very excited because my closest grocery store now sells my favorite beer, so I included the Asahi in my picture. Cheers! かんぱい！
Have you tried this dish? Have you made it at home? Please share any tips if you have any!
And, as always…
What have you been watching/reading/playing/eating/listening to lately?
Happy Wednesday! 🙂