Donburi is a Japanese rice bowl dish. Hot steaming rice is place in the bowl topped with fish, meat, or vegetables. The flavorful meat and vegetable juices are absorbed into the rice making it all the more tasty. The toppings need not be fancy. In fact, a simple soft cooked egg drizzled with soy sauce makes a very tasty topping.

Beef donburi also known as Gyudon is very popular in Japan. You can find this fast and inexpensive dish at chain stores across the country. The beef is typically cooked with onions, soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar giving it a sweet and salty flavor. Egg is commonly added. Beni shoga (pickled red ginger) and shichimi togarashi (seven flavor chili pepper) are good accompaniments. A bowl of miso soup completes the meal.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb (450g) sirloin steak, thinly sliced 2 onions, thinly sliced ¼ cup (60ml) soy sauce 2 tbsp mirin 2 tbsp sake ¼ cup (60ml) water ½ tsp hondashi 1 tsp sugar 1 tbsp sesame oil 4 large eggs Serve with 4 cups cooked short grain rice (preferably hot and steaming) 1 cup Napa cabbage kimchi Slice green onions to garnish INSTRUCTIONS Bring eggs out of the refrigerator. Rinse with warm water from faucet and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes for them to come to room temperature. Mix together soy sauce, mirin, sake, hondashi, and sugar in a bowl. Set aside. Heat sesame oil in a large pan. Fry onions until soft, about 2 minutes. Add beef and fry for another 2 minutes. Pour in soy sauce mixture. When it comes to a boil, reduce heat and allow it to simmer for about 5 minutes. Skim off any scum appearing on the surface. Turn off heat.