Gyūdon

Gyūdon with shichimi

After the arrival of Buddhism in Japan in the 6th century, consumption of meat became rare in Japanese culture (especially those of four-footed animals such as beef or pork) and in many cases frowned upon, both for religious and practical reasons. It was only after the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and the subsequent westernization of the country that meat began to be widely eaten.[1][2]

Gyūdon is considered to be derived from gyūnabe (牛鍋), a beef hot pot originating in the Kantō region of eastern Japan. Gyūnabe originally consisted of cuts of beef simmered with Welsh onions (negi) and miso (as the beef available in Japan at the time were usually of poor quality, the meat was cooked this way to tenderize it and neutralize its foul smell), but by the late 1800s, a variation that used a special stock called warishita (割下) - a combination of a sweetener such as sugar or mirin and soy sauce - instead of miso and featuring additional ingredients such as shirataki (konjac cut into noodle-like strips) and tofu began to appear. This version of gyūnabe (known today as sukiyaki - originally the name of a similar yet distinct dish from the Kansai region) eventually came to be served with rice in a deep bowl (donburi), becoming gyūmeshi or gyūdon.[3]

By the 1890s, gyūmeshi had already become popular in Tokyo, but was yet unknown in other places such as Kyoto or Osaka. In 1899, Eikichi Matsuda opened the first Yoshinoya restaurant, at the fish market in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district. Gyūdon, under the moniker kamechabu, were also being sold in food stands (yatai) in the streets of Ueno and Asakusa.[3]

Originally disparaged as working-class food, gyūdon experienced a surge in popularity that transcended class boundaries in the aftermath of the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, when it was one of the food items readily available to the citizens of a devastated Tokyo.[4] It was around this time that gyūdon evolved further into its present form: a bowl of rice topped with thin slices of beef with onions (tamanegi).[5]

Although some establishments still offer gyūdon with a sukiyaki-like topping (i.e. containing ingredients such as shirataki or tofu), the dish as served in most major food chains nowadays simply consist of rice, beef and onions.

Matsuya is a major gyūdon chain in Japan open round the clock ('24H')

Food ticket (食券, shokken) machine in a Matsuya restaurant

Gyūdon can be found in many restaurants in Japan, and some fast food chains specialize exclusively in the dish. Many of these chain shops are open round the clock. The top three gyūdon chains in Japan are Sukiya (currently the largest gyūdon chain in Japan, established in Yokohama in 1981), Yoshinoya (the oldest and second largest, established in the Nihonbashi district of what is now Chūō, Tokyo in 1899), and Matsuya (established in Nerima, Tokyo in 1968).

Some of these establishments might refer to gyūdon by other names: Matsuya for instance sells gyūdon under the name gyūmeshi (牛めし), while Hanamaru Udon (はなまるうどん), a chain specializing mainly in Sanuki udon (currently a subsidiary of Yoshinoya), includes what it calls gyūniku gohan (牛肉ごはん, lit. "beef rice") in its menu.

Some gyūdon chains charge for miso soup, but many of them serve complimentary miso soup for customers who are eating in. The major gyūdon restaurant chain that offers free miso soup is Matsuya, whereas other major chains like Sukiya offer it as a part of a set or combo.

As a consequence of the fear of mad cow disease and a ban on imports of beef from the United States, Yoshinoya and most competitors were forced to terminate gyūdon sales in Japan on February 11, 2004. Yoshinoya moved its business to a similar dish made with pork instead of beef, which it named butadon (豚丼). Sukiya continued to serve gyūdon (using Australian beef) and also added a dish, tondon, equivalent to Yoshinoya's butadon, to its menu. (Buta and ton are both Japanese words for pig or pork, written with the same Han character, 豚. See tonkatsu, tonjiru.)

The Japanese Diet voted to resume beef imports from the United States in early May 2005, but the ban was reinstated in January 2006 after detectable quantities of prohibited spine tissue were found in the first post-ban shipments arriving in Japan. As the issue was discussed between the United States and Japanese governments, gyūdon vendors and customers waited for a resolution. As of September 2006, the ban has been lifted.[6]

• Donburi
• Katsudon
• Oyakodon

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gyūdon.

• Everyday Japanese Cooking