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 Gyūdon from aYoshinoya restaurant | |
| Alternative names | gyūmeshi ('beef [and] rice'), beef bowl |
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| Place of origin | Japan |
| Main ingredients | rice,beef andonion |
Gyūdon (牛丼; "beefbowl"), also known asgyūmeshi (牛飯 or 牛めし; "beef [and] rice"), is aJapanese dish consisting of a bowl ofrice topped withbeef andonion, simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored withdashi (fish andseaweed stock),soy sauce andmirin (sweetrice wine). It may sometimes also be served with toppings such as raw or soft poachedeggs,negi onions, gratedcheese orkimchi. A popular food in Japan, it is commonly eaten withbeni shōga (pickled ginger),shichimi (groundchili pepper), and a side dish ofmiso soup.
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After thearrival of Buddhism in Japan in the 6th century, consumption of meat became rare in Japanese culture (especially those of four-footed animals such ascattle orpigs) and in many cases frowned upon, both for religious and practical reasons. It was only after theMeiji Restoration in 1868 and the subsequent westernization of the country that meat began to be widely eaten.[1][2]
Gyūdon is considered to be derived fromgyūnabe (牛鍋), a beefhot pot originating in theKantō region of eastern Japan.Gyūnabe originally consisted of cuts of beef simmered withWelsh onions andmiso (as the beef available in Japan at the time were usually of poor quality, the meat was cooked this way to tenderize it and neutralize its foul smell), but by the late 1800s, a variation that used a specialstock calledwarishita (割下) – a combination of a sweetener such as sugar ormirin andsoy sauce – instead of miso and featuring additional ingredients such asshirataki (konjac cut into noodle-like strips) andtofu began to appear. This version ofgyūnabe (known today assukiyaki – originally the name of a similar yet distinct dish from theKansai region) eventually came to be served with rice in a deep bowl (donburi), becominggyūmeshi orgyūdon.[3]
By the 1890s,gyūmeshi had already become popular in Tokyo, but was yet unknown in other places such asKyoto orOsaka. In 1899, Eikichi Matsuda opened the firstYoshinoya restaurant, at the fish market in Tokyo'sNihonbashi district.Gyūdon, under the monikerkamechabu, were also being sold in food stands (yatai) in the streets ofUeno andAsakusa.[3]
Originally disparaged as working-class food,gyūdon experienced a surge in popularity that transcended class boundaries in the aftermath of theGreat Kantō Earthquake of 1923, when it was one of the food items readily available to the citizens of a devastated Tokyo.[4] It was around this time thatgyūdon evolved further into its present form: a bowl of rice topped with thin slices of beef withonions (tamanegi).[5]
Although some establishments still offergyūdon with asukiyaki-like topping (i.e. containing ingredients such asshirataki or tofu), the dish as served in most major food chains nowadays simply consist of rice, beef and onions.
Gyūdon can be found in many restaurants in Japan, and somefast food chains specialize exclusively in the dish. Many of these chain shops are open round the clock. The top threegyūdon chains in Japan areSukiya (currently the largestgyūdon chain in Japan, established inYokohama in 1981),Yoshinoya (the oldest and second largest, established in theNihonbashi district of what is nowChūō,Tokyo in 1899), andMatsuya (established inNerima, Tokyo in 1968).
Some of these establishments might refer togyūdon by other names: Matsuya for instance sellsgyūdon under the namegyūmeshi (牛めし), whileHanamaru Udon (はなまるうどん), a chain specializing mainly inSanuki udon (currently asubsidiary of Yoshinoya), includes what it callsgyūniku gohan (牛肉ごはん, lit. "beef rice") in its menu.
While many establishments charge formiso soup or offer it as a part of a set, Matsuya is known for serving complimentary miso soup for customers who are eating in.
It is common to order gyūdon with extra sauce (tsuyudaku) or no sauce (tsuyunuki). Customers can request even more sauce withtsuyudakudaku or eventsuyudakudakudaku.[6]
The practice of orderingtsuyudaku is speculated to have started in the 1950s as a code word originally used by staff. One theory[by whom?] says thatdaku comes from thetaku part oftakusan ("many, a lot") which, when doubled as indaku-daku, is also theonomatopoeia (imitative word) for the sound of dripping.[7]
As a consequence of the fear ofmad cow disease and a ban on imports of beef from theUnited States, Yoshinoya and most competitors were forced to terminate gyūdon sales inJapan on 11 February 2004.Yoshinoya moved its business to a similar dish made with pork instead of beef, which it namedbutadon (豚丼).Sukiya continued to serve gyūdon (usingAustralian beef) and also added a dish,tondon, equivalent to Yoshinoya'sbutadon, to its menu. (Buta andton are both Japanese words forpig orpork, written with the sameKanji, 豚. Seetonkatsu,tonjiru.)
TheJapanese Diet voted to resume beef imports from the United States in early May 2005, but the ban was reinstated in January 2006 after detectable quantities of prohibited spine tissue were found in the first post-ban shipments arriving in Japan. As the issue was discussed between the United States and Japanese governments, gyūdon vendors and customers waited for a resolution. As of September 2006, the ban has been lifted.[8]
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