Teriyaki Beef Donburi (Beef Teriyaki Donburi)

I call this a Japanese dish cooked the Filipino way. FIRST TIME, FIRST SERVED too. Donburi to a Japanese means a bowl of rice served on a bowl also called donburi. Rice topped with a dish say Teriyaki Beef is called Teriyaki Beef Donburi. On Western menus, they have it as Beef Teriyaki Donburi but a Japanese lady I replaced at work said the proper way to say it is Teriyaki Beef Donburi.

Cooking Teriyaki Beef is easy but finding the right cut is difficult. The beef should be cut as thin as possible, or should I say shaved. I bought the meat from a Japanese store. The owner used to be a cook so he gave me some tips on preparing this. One thing I learned is that they do not use cornstarch to keep the sauce thick. Instead, they simmer the light teriyaki sauce and mirin on a slow fire for about 15 minutes making sure that the thickening sauce does not burn at the bottom of the pan.

Also, they do not use sugar to make their sauce sweet. They use rice wine called mirin instead. Aside from providing the sweetness that the dish needs, mirin has also the ability to mask strong meat and fish aroma and make your dish shine.

The kind of vegetables you add is also depending on who is going to eat the donburi. Bean sprouts, carrots and cabbage are the most popular ones but he suggested not to miss putting green onions. The Japanese people seem to have a strong affinity with green onions. I have seen them put green onions in almost every dish they prepare including the miso soup.

Well, my first try was successful. It was easy, alright. (I cooked enough for dinner and our lunch)

For the sauce

¼ cup teriyaki sauce
4 tbsp of mirin

For the beef

2 tbsp of olive oil
1 lb of “shaved” beef
1/8 or a little bit more of teriyaki soy

For the vegetables

2 medium carrots, julienne cut
¼ cabbage, shaved
200 grams of bean sprouts
1 small onion, sliced thinly

Simmer the teriyaki sauce and the mirin on slow fire for about 15 minutes. Marinate beef for about 15 minutes.

Once the two procedures above have been done, prepare the pan for cooking the beef.

In a very hot pan, put in the marinated beef, discarding the marinating sauce. Add oil. Do not cover the pan and it should be hot enough to allow whatever liquid is left in the beef to evaporate. Stir occasionally. Cook for about 5 minutes and set aside.

In the same pan, put all the vegetables in and cover the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes stirring occasionally. When vegetables are cooked, turn off the stove and add the sauce and the green onions. Serve on top of rice.

I am sure you can do it too. Try it.