Japanese Element Symbols | Japanese Food

 

What is GYUUDON?

牛丼(Gyuudon), often literally translated into English as beef bowl, is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with dashi (fish and seaweed stock), soy sauce and mirin (sweet rice wine).

It also often includes shirataki noodles, and is sometimes topped with a raw egg. A very popular food in Japan, it is commonly served with beni shōga (pickled ginger), shichimi (ground chili pepper), and a side dish of miso soup. Gyū means "cow" or "beef", and don is short for donburi, the Japanese word for "bowl".

Wikipedia : Gyūdon

 

Why does the Japanese love GYUUDON?

Almost all Japanese eat the GYUUDON in the beef bowl specialty store.

The three reasons exist.

• It is low price.
• It is quickly served.
• It is delicious.

The economy of Japan is a great depression now.
Japaneses businessman's allowance has been decreasing.
So, they should cut down the lunch fee and the drink money.
They are looking for the lunch with a low price always desperately.

In such a meaning, the beef bowl specialty store is very convenient for Japaneses businessman.
The time of the businessman in Japan of lunchtime is about one hour.

"It is low price, quickly, and delicious."
-GYUUDON of the GYUUDON shop in Japan is a convenient lunch for them.

And, Japanese school students also often eat GYUUDON.

Japan's university students have small money. Japan's university students can use hardly money for their lunch.

Moreover, in the past, almost all of the customer in the GYUUDON store was a man.

But the woman customer has been increasing recently.

By the way, the Japanese hardly makes GYUUDON in their home.
It is because it is difficult for them to make "Taste of the GYUUDON shop" at their home.

The soup is a very thick taste because it cooks a large amount of beef in the beef bowl shop.
It is very difficult to make that taste at home.

So, most Japanese eat GYUUDON in the GYUUDON shop.

 

GYUUDON multiple store in Japan.

 

There are 2 big GYUUDON multiple stores in Japan.

1. SUKIYA (ZENSHO Co., Ltd.)
2. YOSHINOYA (YOSHINOYA Co., Ltd.)

ゼンショー(Zensho) that developed GYUUDON chain "すき家(SUKIYA)" announced that it cut the price of the price of GYUUDON constantly for 50 yen at 9:00AM, December 7th, 2009, and sell it for 280 yen.
This GYUUDON price is equal to 2001 in which the deflation deteriorated in Japan before.

This price is an all-time low in the major beef bowl chain.

 

The GYUUDON multiple shop where the scale is the biggest in Japan is "SUKIYA."

The price cut that the SUKIYA did will intensify the GYUUDON shop deflation war of Japan.

吉野家(YOSHONOYA) will be driven in to the predicament more and more by the strategy of SUKIYA.

 

Price of GYUUDON of main GYUUDON shop in Japan.

In the past, YOSHONOYA had the most a lot of shops in Japan.
But, YOSHINOYA was outstripped to SUKIYA in September, 2008 and YOSHONOYA fell to 2nd status.

When you see price of GYUUDON closely, you will understand the reason.

SUKIYA	Mini size	230 yen [2.6 dollars]
	Regular size	280 yen [3.2 dollars]
	Meat is 1.5 times size	380yen [4.3 dollars]
	Big size	380yen [4.3 dollars]
	Maximum size	480yen [5.5 dollars]
	Mega-size	610yen [6.9 dollars]

( It calculates in parentheses for 1 dollar with 88 yen.)

 

YOSHINOYA	Regular size	380 yen [4.3 dollars]
	Big size	480yen [5.5 dollars]
	Maximum size	630yen [7.2 dollars]
	--------------------	--------------------
	--------------------	--------------------
	The kind of the price of the GYUUDON of Yoshinoya is a few.

( It calculates in parentheses for 1 dollar with 88 yen.)

YOSHONOYA should do the effort and the research more more.
The bankruptcy of the enterprise where the effort and the research are insufficient happens in recent Japan often.

 

GYUUDON topping.

Most Japanese people put 紅生姜:BENI-SHOUGA(pickled ginger dyed red) on GYUUDON.

Benishouga is usually put on the table of the beef bowl specialty shop.

The person who likes benishouga very much puts a large amount of benishouga on GYUUDON.

<The image expands by the click. >

Next, I tell you "how to eat GYUUDON which almost all Japanese people like."

1. They order the clerk the raw egg with GYUUDON shop.
2. And, they break the raw egg and mix it.
3. Next, They pour it on GYUUDON.
   
4. And, they pitch into GYUUDON in their mouths.

 

 

GYUUDON term.

I tell you the most famous GYUUDON term in Japan.

It is word "つゆだく[TSUYU-DAKU]."

"つゆ(TSUYU)" is "Soup of GYUUDON. "
In word "だく(DAKU)", "汗だく(ASE-DAKU):[Dripping with sweat]" is an etymology.

"TSUYUDAKU" is coinage of Japan that shows "A large amount of GYUUDON soup."

There are quite a lot of Japanese people that likes this TSUYUDAKU-GYUUDON.
( But, I don't like it.)

 

 

How to cook GYUUDON.

You can make the GYUUDON in your home though it is difficult to make the taste like the GYUUDON specialty shop.

I teach you how to make the GYUUDON.

First of all, ご飯/ごはん(GOHAN[the boiled rice]) is necessary to make the GYUUDON.
The machine of boiling rice is usually used to cook boiled rice in Japan.
But, even if you are not a machine of cooking rice, you can boil rice.
(Look at the last page: How to cook gohan, please.) .

 

GYUUDON's ingredients

Soy sauce	Mirin	Sake

There are "the soy sauce", "the MIRIN", "SAKE", and "the DASHI(soup stock)".

みりん(Mirin) is a sweetened sort of rice brewage.
You may be able to find it in any asian foods store.
(If you cannot buy the mirin, you need not use the mirin.)

You can also get 料理酒(Ryouri-shu)[Cooking Sake] at most stores.
(It is a very luxurious seasoning though sake for the drinking may be used to cook.)

	だし(Dashi) is Soup of fish that made in Japan. TheDashi is a powder that you put into water to make a fish-flavored soup stock. You can make this dish without it, but it is better with it. The below image is dashi powder. It is a little troublesome to make original dashi. The dashi soup of such a powder is frequently used in recent Japan.

 

And, the last ingredient is the sugar.
As for sugar, it is enough by the sugar sold in your country.

<GYUUDON's ingredients.>

• 4 cups cooked plain Japanese rice.
• 1 pound thinly sliced beef.
• A small amount: shredded ginger.
• 1 1/3 cup dashi soup.
• 5 tbsps soysauce
• 3 tbsps mirin.
• 2 tbsps sugar.
• 1 tsp sake.

<Seasoning : A>

• 1 tbsps sake.
• 1 tbsps soysauce.

 

Then, let's cook GYUUDON!

	1. Preparation of ingredients. Cut beef into bite-sized pieces. Season the slices of beef with seasoning of A (before cooking them). Rub in the seasoning in beef. Slice onion thinly.
	2. Make the boiling soup of the GYUUDON. Put ginger, dashi, soysauce, sugar, mirin, and sake in a pan. And, boil it.
	3. Put beef into the boiling soup. Add beef in the pan and simmer for a five minutes. (Throw away lye.)
	4. Add the onion at the end. Add the onion In addition, please boil by the low flame for eight minutes.
Advice of how to cook GYUUDON : The onion might melt when beef and the onion are put at the same time and boiled. Therefore, please put the onion at the end.

I quoted this recipe from this web page.

 

5. Dishing up.

Put boiled rice in the dish, and put the beef of GYUUDON that you made.
OK, GYUUDON is done!

That is very Japan's GYUUDON !

 

 

 

 

By Hararie

 

 

I initiate you into "How to make an easy rice."

 

Refer to this page when the boiled rice is necessary if you are interested in the food of Japan.

 

 

How to wash rice.

To make the rice, you should wash rice first.
Wash rice like this.

1	First, wash your rice Find a nice large bowl, put in as much rice as you need, and rinse it in water.
2	Mix the rice up, throw away water in the bowl. [If you have the colander, it is easier.]
3	Pour out the water.
4	Continue until the water looks pretty clear when you pour it out - generally this takes about three rinses.
5	And, soak it in water for about 30 minutes.

 

Note: Measure rice in the cup.

 

 

<How to wash rice>

soak it in water for about 30 minutes.

 

 

How to boil rice.

Almost all homes in Japan have the rice cooker because it boils rice every day.

But, even if you don't have the rice cooker, you can easily boil rice.

The tool that you use to cook is a casserole.
(The rice cannot be boiled without the lid.)

Casseroles like these might be a fit tool.

 

Recall the number of cups about the amount of the rice that you washed.
The amount of water to washed rice 1 cup is 200cc.

	Put "Rice that you washed" in the pan. Next, pour water in it.
	Put the lid on the casserole.
	Put the casserole on a strong fire.
	Boil for five minutes by a low fire when water in the casserole boils. And leave it without taking the cap for five minutes.

 

Now when you open the lid, you will be able to see savory boiled rice there.

 

By Hararie

 

 

 

Tamago kake gohan currently loved by Japanese people is eating habits rare in the world.

 

 

The velocity of circulation of a Japan's egg is very quick.

It is because Japanese people is very severe in the use-by date of food.

The display of "Use-by date of food" is defined by "Food Sanitation Law" of Japan as a duty.

Sometimes, Though there is a wholesaler and a retailer who alters an expiration best-before date of food, it is severely blamed from mass-media or Japanese people, and business is driven into closing.

 

"Use-by date of food " of almost all foods is checked on the food shop of Japan every day.

   

Food by which the use-by date becomes near is sold cheap or is abandoned.

 

The egg is usually served to the market in Japan on the production day (day when the egg was born).

Therefore, if it is early, we can eat a fresh egg after a one day has passed since it was born.
Therefore, we can eat a Japanese raw egg safely.

 

In all raw eggs sold in Japan, use-by date is shown.

By such a background, Japanese people has the custom of eating the raw egg without difficulty.

 

Japanese people eat "Tamago kake gohan" in many cases at the time of breakfast.

And, it has abundant variations.

 

 

How to make Tamago kake gohan.

The making of Tamago kake gohan is very easy.

 

There are two kinds of basic way of making Tamago kake gohan.

 

1. Method of putting raw egg on gohan direct.
   The soy sauce is poured into gohan afterwards, and stirred.
   
   
2. The raw egg is first put into the bowl etc. , and next, the raw egg is stirred.
   It is mixed and it is poured on gohan.

 

If the soy sauce is poured too much, it becomes salty.

The above is how to make "standard Tamago kake gohan."

 

If you visit Japan, you might meet "Tamago kake gohan."

 

Have you ever been to Japan?

At the hotel in Japan, a raw egg often comes out at the time of breakfast.

 

In Japan, there are two kinds of breakfasts at the hotel.

 

It is "Table course type" and "Viking type."

Since "Table course type" is set　all, you cannot choose cooking.

 

 

"Viking type" is a breakfast system from which by yourself can choose the dish which you want to eat.

 

The big hotel of a scale tends to perform "the breakfast of Viking form."

Moreover, there is a hotel where two kinds of Vikings of "Japanese food and Western food" are done, too.

 

Tamago kake gohan with abundant toppings.

I'm sorry, the topic has wandered from Tamago kake gohan.

 

In Tamago kake gohan, there are various toppings.

The topping of Tamago kake gohan in this photograph is "Dried bonito and a chive."

 

This topping is "Flakes of salmon."

 

And, This is "natto and carved nori."

This is very delicious !!
I like this.

 

 

This topping is "kimchi and nori"

The sharp taste of the Kimchi changes into a mild taste by the raw egg.

 

 

 

 

This is "Nametake" and "Greens."
["Nametake" is the food of Japan that the Enoki-mushroom was boiled down with soy sauce.]

 

This is very gorgeous !

Shirasu, fermented soybeans, green shiso, and a raw egg are on cereals rice.

These are very healthy combination.

 

Now, Japan is a Tamago kake gohan boom.

It is popularity to the extent that the book of Tamago kake gohan is published.

"The topping of Tamago kake gohan for 365 days" appears in this book.

 

Tamago kake gohan in which various toppings are possible is easy, healthy and delicious.

It's the perfect Japanese food culture.

When you visit Japan, please eat Tamago kake gohan.

 

 

By Hararie