Japanese Food Tips

As everyone knows, hamburgers are perhaps the most popular of all fast foods in the world, but in Japan, gyudon (beef bowl) is also a famous fast food. Gyudon is a dish of thinly sliced beef and onions simmered in sweetened soy sauce, served on top of a bowl of rice. The original form of gyudon was created in the Meiji era (1868-1912) and was called gyumeshi which means beef and rice. Gyudon is said to have been named in 1899 by the founder who created the oldest gyudon franchise. Nowadays, both the words gyudon and gyumeshi are used. Apparently, the first beef bowl was miso-flavored and later changed to soy sauce-flavored like today. Beef bowl tastes similar to sukiyaki, and by the way, there is also sukiyaki bowl, which uses more ingredients than beef bowl. There are three major gyudon franchises in Japan, with about 4,000 restaurants. The gyudon including takeout can be had for around 400 yen and is served very quickly when ordered, and is especially popular among men. Frozen beef bowls are available at supermarkets, and can be enjoyed at home just by thawing them and putting them on home cooked rice.