Donburi

[ChryZ]

Loco Moco sparked my interest, so I gave it a shot:

Very tasty and not too time consuming ... excellent weekdays dish.

[torakris]

ChryZ,

what is in the sauce?

It looks beautiful! My 10 year old daughter just made me scroll back up so she could see it again!

[ChryZ]

ChryZ,

what is in the sauce?

It looks beautiful! My 10 year old daughter just made me scroll back up so she could see it again!

←

Awesome, kids are so hard to please

The sauce is braun gravy. I've got a pictorial on my Blog, but I happily share it here too:

main ingredients:

120 G ground beef (~1/4 pound)

1 CUP cooked short grain rice

1 X egg

1/2 TSP salt (to taste)

1/2 TSP black pepper (to taste)

brown gravy ingredients:

1 CUP water

1 TBSP flour

2 TBSP ketchup

1/4 TSP salt (to taste)

1/4 TSP black pepper (to taste)

cook the rice, start the Loco Moco cooking when the rice is ready,

season ground beef with salt and pepper

form a patty (I like flat/large patties, so a piece of tin foil is handy

since the meat is shrinking by pulling together while frying, the tin foil

helps to form a flat patty while giving support to it, the patty is easier

to handle that way)

lightly oil a pan, heat it up, add the patty when the oil is smoking

fry according to personal preference, the brown bits in the pan are

nothing to worry about, it's pure beef flavour and the base of the gravy

park the patty in a bowl of rice, lower the heat of the patty pan,

heat another pan, crack an egg into it, fry to personal preference

cover the bowl with a plate (the patty will rest for a moment while getting juicy again),

add flour to the patty pan and brown it a little, stir well, add pepper & ketchup & water,

stir vigorously with a wire whisk until smooth, season to taste with salt when the gravy thickened

place the fried egg on top of the patty and pour the hot gravy over them, enjoy

The recipe is pretty basic and can be easily tweaked to personal preference.

[Kaitenzushi]

I am a little disappointed with this thread. The bowl and the rice are the foundations of donburi. But almost all the discussion has been about the toppings. I would like to hear more about the bowl and the rice.

When we serve donburi at home we use Chinese bowls, simply because we do not own any Japanese bowls. It probably does spoil the appearance though.

It has been stated that sushi flavouring is normally not used. I would have thought that it was never used? Otherwise you merely get sushi in a bowl?

And how about Yoshinoya's rice? I guess it is not a high grade? They must use several tons per day in each store.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Kaitenzushi (log)

[Hiroyuki]

I am a little disappointed with this thread.  The bowl and the rice are the foundations of donburi. But almost all the discussion has been about the toppings. I would like to hear more about the bowl and the rice.

When we serve donburi at home we use Chinese bowls, simply because we do not own any Japanese bowls. It probably does spoil the appearance though.

It has been stated that sushi flavouring is normally not used. I would have thought that it was never used? Otherwise you merely get sushi in a bowl?

And how about Yoshinoya's rice? I guess it is not a high grade? They must use several tons per day in each store.

←

Sushi flavoring? You mean vinegared rice (shari) with toppings? Why not visit the chirashi sushi (to be more precious chirashi zushi) thread?

At Yoshinoya and most other donburi restaurants, they use blended rice 50 to 70% of which is Kirara 397 from Hokkaido. In fact, Kirara 397 made it possible to reduce the price of regular gyudon from 400 yen to 280 yen (before the beef imports were banned).

[Hiroyuki]

Come to think of it, are you talking about kaisen don (fresh seafood donburi) 海鮮丼, like this, with un-vinegared rice?

[mona]

ChryZ,

what is in the sauce?

It looks beautiful! My 10 year old daughter just made me scroll back up so she could see it again!

←

Awesome, kids are so hard to please

The sauce is braun gravy. I've got a pictorial on my Blog, but I happily share it here too:

main ingredients:

120 G ground beef (~1/4 pound)

1 CUP cooked short grain rice

1 X egg

1/2 TSP salt (to taste)

1/2 TSP black pepper (to taste)

brown gravy ingredients:

1 CUP water

1 TBSP flour

2 TBSP ketchup

1/4 TSP salt (to taste)

1/4 TSP black pepper (to taste)

cook the rice, start the Loco Moco cooking when the rice is ready,

season ground beef with salt and pepper

form a patty (I like flat/large patties, so a piece of tin foil is handy

since the meat is shrinking by pulling together while frying, the tin foil

helps to form a flat patty while giving support to it, the patty is easier

to handle that way)

lightly oil a pan, heat it up, add the patty when the oil is smoking

fry according to personal preference, the brown bits in the pan are

nothing to worry about, it's pure beef flavour and the base of the gravy

park the patty in a bowl of rice, lower the heat of the patty pan,

heat another pan, crack an egg into it, fry to personal preference

cover the bowl with a plate (the patty will rest for a moment while getting juicy again),

add flour to the patty pan and brown it a little, stir well, add pepper & ketchup & water,

stir vigorously with a wire whisk until smooth, season to taste with salt when the gravy thickened

place the fried egg on top of the patty and pour the hot gravy over them, enjoy

The recipe is pretty basic and can be easily tweaked to personal preference.

←

I just made this but added some Marmite to the gravy, it made for a quick and delicious dinner! Thanks!

[ChryZ]

I just made this but added some Marmite to the gravy, it made for a quick and delicious dinner! Thanks!

←

You're welcome. Exchanging the ketchup or adding other stuff is really the key to tweaking the dish to personal preference. I'm going to try an amakara (soy/mirin) flavoured version soon.

[Kaitenzushi]

...

Most donburis (including negi-toro don) do not use seasoned sushi rice.

...

Dear Hirayuki

Actually I was replying (rather late) to this post by Torakris from June 2005.

So it looks like if the rice is seasoned sushi rice, it automatically becomes chirashi zushi.

Therefore I think that ALL donburi use unseasoned rice.

Also, because donburi means "bowl", let's discuss the actual bowls at least a bit.

Edited December 1, 2006 by Kaitenzushi (log)

[torakris]

...

Most donburis (including negi-toro don) do not use seasoned sushi rice.

...

Dear Hirayuki

Actually I was replying (rather late) to this post by Torakris from June 2005.

So it looks like if the rice is seasoned sushi rice, it automatically becomes chirashi zushi.

Therefore I think that ALL donburi use unseasoned rice.

Also, because donburi means "bowl", let's discuss the actual bowls at least a bit.

←

Kaitenzushi,

As far as I know ALL donburis do use unseasoned rice, I have never eaten one that was seasoned.

I have learned in my life though to avoid using words like all, always, never, etc because it seems there is always an exception to every rule. This is why I wrote my original post the way I did.

Let's talk about the bowls! I have donburi bowls which are about twice the size of a regular rice bowl. Before I had those I used ramen bowls. Sometimes I use deepish square bowls which are slightly larger than than donburi bowls.

If you do a donburi image search you will see a variety of bowls are used, in various sizes and even shapes, some even have lids.

[Hiroyuki]

Unlike o-chawan (rice bowl), o-wan (soup bowl), and o-hashi (chopsticks), which receive everyday use, the Japanese don't have much attachment to donburi. The Japanese usually have their own personal o-chawan, o-wan, and o-hashi, but not personal donburi. I have plastic donburi coated with resin, and they are for everybody's use.

Donburi dishes are usually considered rather vulgar, and there are still many Japanese females who hesitate to step into Yoshinoya and other restaurants specializing in donburi dishes.

Donburi dishes with lids on top of them look less vulgar, and many restaurants, especially high-end ones, adopt this style of serving.

Note the honorific affix o-. We can say chawan, wan, and hashi, but we more often put an o- before them. Personally, I usually say o-chawan, o-wan, and hashi. We don't say o-donburi. That would sound quite silly.

[helenjp]

WE have personal donburi! One son has a fox, and the other a badger (assigned according to personality! ), while I have a cherry-blossom one in recognition of the petal-softness of my character, and my husband's is a kind of Chinese arabesque pattern (karakusa) - but I choose to interpret it as 葛藤(kudzu vine and wistaria), since he's not a straightforward person.

An ideas for favorite donburi? With people in and out of the house at odd hours because of school or late hours at work recently, I think our menus need more donburi!

[ChryZ]

As far as I know ALL donburis do use unseasoned rice, I have never eaten one that was seasoned.

I have learned in my life though to avoid using words like all, always, never, etc because it seems there is always an exception to every rule. This is why I wrote my original post the way I did.

←

Sorry for "rewarming" the seasoned/unseasoned-rice discussion, but I was wondering about barachirashi「ばらちらし」.

Is that dish a donburi? If yes, then it's one of the few with seasoned rice.

[Hiroyuki]

As far as I know ALL donburis do use unseasoned rice, I have never eaten one that was seasoned.

I have learned in my life though to avoid using words like all, always, never, etc because it seems there is always an exception to every rule. This is why I wrote my original post the way I did.

←

Sorry for "rewarming" the seasoned/unseasoned-rice discussion, but I was wondering about barachirashi「ばらちらし」.

Is that dish a donburi? If yes, then it's one of the few with seasoned rice.

←

I myself wouldn't call that a donburi dish. The bowl is rather shallow. Besides, whenever I hear the word "xx don", I instinctively think that the rice is hot rather than lukuwarm or cool.

[helenjp]

That type of sushi is normally called donburi-zushi, not just donburi, so I think there is a clear distinction between donburi and things that look like donburi but have major differences! You can dribble the sauce onto the rice before adding toppings and more sauce, but that's different from providing a separately seasoned rice base.

[Hiroyuki]

Forgot to post about this very important news:

Starting on Dec. 1, Yoshinoya serves gyudon every day, but in a limited time band only - 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Regular: 380 yen

Large: 480 yen

Sometimes I wish I lived in a big city where there is a Yoshinoya.

[GlorifiedRice]

As far as I know ALL donburis do use unseasoned rice, I have never eaten one that was seasoned.

I have learned in my life though to avoid using words like all, always, never, etc because it seems there is always an exception to every rule. This is why I wrote my original post the way I did.

←

Sorry for "rewarming" the seasoned/unseasoned-rice discussion, but I was wondering about barachirashi「ばらちらし」.

Is that dish a donburi? If yes, then it's one of the few with seasoned rice.

←

OMG that looks yummy!

http://www.davidphoto.ca/media/portraits/children/drool.jpg

I bought Gyodon today but cant eat it until Im over this cold...

[Hiroyuki]

OMG that looks yummy!

http://www.davidphoto.ca/media/portraits/children/drool.jpg

I bought Gyodon today but cant eat it until Im over this cold...

←

Who' that guy?

When you have gyudon, don't forget to top it with beni shoga (pickled red ginger).

[Kaitenzushi]

Let's talk about the bowls! I have donburi bowls which are about twice the size of a regular rice bowl. Before I had those I used ramen bowls. Sometimes I use deepish square bowls which are slightly larger than than donburi bowls.

If you do a donburi image search you will see a variety of bowls are used, in various sizes and even shapes, some even have lids.

←

Thanks, that's exactly what I was asking.

Until now I did not even know that Google Images existed.

Now I am looking at images of everything, even non-food-related things, e.g. places.

[Kaitenzushi]

Unlike o-chawan (rice bowl), o-wan (soup bowl), and o-hashi (chopsticks), which receive everyday use, the Japanese don't have much attachment to donburi.  The Japanese usually have their own personal o-chawan, o-wan, and o-hashi, but not personal donburi.  I have plastic donburi coated with resin, and they are for everybody's use.

Donburi dishes are usually considered rather vulgar, and there are still many Japanese females who hesitate to step into Yoshinoya and other restaurants specializing in donburi dishes.

Donburi dishes with lids on top of them look less vulgar, and many restaurants, especially high-end ones, adopt this style of serving.

Note the honorific affix o-.  We can say chawan, wan, and hashi, but we more often put an o- before them.  Personally, I usually say o-chawan, o-wan, and hashi.  We don't say o-donburi.  That would sound quite silly.

←

Thanks, this is the donburi bowl discussion I was trying to elicit.

It sounds as if these hesitant females may spoil their marriage prospects if they were seen inside or near a Yoshinoya. Maybe Yoshinoya should offer a lid for Y100 extra as an upmarket option. Then the hesitant females could come in.

Being a hen-na gaijin, I will now remember to say "o-donburi" just to emphasize how strange we really are.

[Hiroyuki]

Unlike o-chawan (rice bowl), o-wan (soup bowl), and o-hashi (chopsticks), which receive everyday use, the Japanese don't have much attachment to donburi.  The Japanese usually have their own personal o-chawan, o-wan, and o-hashi, but not personal donburi.  I have plastic donburi coated with resin, and they are for everybody's use.

Donburi dishes are usually considered rather vulgar, and there are still many Japanese females who hesitate to step into Yoshinoya and other restaurants specializing in donburi dishes.

Donburi dishes with lids on top of them look less vulgar, and many restaurants, especially high-end ones, adopt this style of serving.

Note the honorific affix o-.  We can say chawan, wan, and hashi, but we more often put an o- before them.  Personally, I usually say o-chawan, o-wan, and hashi.  We don't say o-donburi.  That would sound quite silly.

←

Thanks, this is the donburi bowl discussion I was trying to elicit.

It sounds as if these hesitant females may spoil their marriage prospects if they were seen inside or near a Yoshinoya. Maybe Yoshinoya should offer a lid for Y100 extra as an upmarket option. Then the hesitant females could come in.

Being a hen-na gaijin, I will now remember to say "o-donburi" just to emphasize how strange we really are.

←

There once was an upscale Yoshinoya restaurant at Akasaka. I googled and found it was opened in 1985 and offered a regular gyudon for 800 yen. Unfortunately, it was closed down decades ago.

Don't worry for young females. There are a lot other restaurants that they would rather frequent, such as Italian restaurants, coffee houses, and restaurants specializing in sweets.

[JasonTrue]

The opposite experience seems to be in effect at okayu-ya-san, recently trendy with women trying to eat low-calorie lunches.

There's a popular chain that I've been to in Ueno and one other location around Meguro.

Photo: http://blog.jagaimo.com/images/ul/okayu.jpg

Described on: http://blog.jagaimo.com/archive/2006/03/20/2350.aspx

When I've been to such places, I've never seen an unaccompanied male diner (including myself, to be fair), and customers were generally more than 90% women.

[GlorifiedRice]

Hiroyuki? Im eating the Gyu Don!

OMG its like tasting hot beef chirashizushi, because of the ginger!

A bowl of heaven!

[Hiroyuki]

Hiroyuki? Im eating the Gyu Don!

OMG its like tasting hot beef chirashizushi, because of the ginger!

A bowl of heaven!

←

Good for you! But I wonder if you put the right kind of pickled ginger. Not gari but beni shouga. Gari, eaten with sushi, is sweet while beni shouga isn't.

[GlorifiedRice]

Hiroyuki? Im eating the Gyu Don!

OMG its like tasting hot beef chirashizushi, because of the ginger!

A bowl of heaven!

←

Good for you! But I wonder if you put the right kind of pickled ginger. Not gari but beni shouga. Gari, eaten with sushi, is sweet while beni shouga isn't.

←

Yes, it was the red slivers. Beni Shoga.

It doesnt matter if ones sweet and the other isnt, the sweetness of the onions and Im sure the sugar in the cooking seasoning (for lack of a better word) melded

perfectly with the ginger and it was a delicious mix...MMMMM.

The bowl looked like there wasnt a whole lot of meat in it, but there was.