Trying Frozen Gyudon (Beef Bowl) from Shirakiku and a Review

Gyudon is a relatively simple dish to prepare of simmered beef in a slightly sweet and savoury sauce that appeals to most palates.  The sauce has soy sauce, mirin, sake, and dashi in it.  The two main solid ingredients in it are thin sliced beef (chuck is good), and sliced onions.  I really like this dish, but it is lacking in the vegetables department, so a side salad or other vegetable would be a nice accompaniment.

This is the second time I've tried a frozen gyudon or Japanese beef bowl.  I can't even remember the name of the first brand I tried.  Back then I was still working 5 days a week in the office and it came complete with rice in a microwave bowl.  It wasn't bad, but it was expensive for a frozen food lunch.  

This time around I found this frozen gyudon at T&T market and gave it a try as it was on sale.  Again, these aren't cheap, but sometimes that is a relative thing.  I also make my own gyudon and have posted the recipe up here.  The price of beef has shot up these days, so it now costs more, even for chuck, but a slightly fatty beef is good for this dish to add umami.

Front of the package. All descriptions are in English for the Canadian market.

The package comes in a simple plastic pouch with some nice graphics work. The front has a red and black background cut at a diagonal to give it some interest with a big photo of a tasty looking beef bowl in the center / bottom half.  GYUDON is in huge letters to let you know you are buying beef with onions in a sauce.

Back of the package.

There are plenty of preparation directions on the back along with ingredients, manufacturing information, and nutritional info.  I would use the microwave method to prepare it.

The package contains two 125 gram portions of beef in sauce.

To prepare a portion for reheating in a microwave, cut off a corner - but not too much as you need to keep the sauce inside.  Put the portion in the microwave with the cut corner raised and the beef below.  Nuke of 2 minutes and then it is ready to put on some white rice.  Reheat your leftover or pre-packaged rice first.  One of these portions is enough for a small lunch on rice.  See below.  If you are hungry, you will need more rice and both portions.

The reheated gyudon on rice.

The gyudon had plenty of sauce in the package.  The portion of beef was relatively generous and there was plenty of onion.  It tasted like gyudon, but I did find it sweeter than my preference.  I'm guessing they tried this with a test audience and found that people prefer a sweeter sauce.  I don't, and you can tell from my recipe that I don't add any sugar or sweetener other than mirin and the sweetness that comes from sauteed onions.  All in all, it was pretty good, especially if you don't want to prepare your own.

Closeup of the beef and onions.

Follow me on Twitter or Instagram at @Tostzilla or my feedburner. 
More snacks, ramen and Japanese pop culture.