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Featured Comment:
“This was so tasty! I’m so happy that I came across this recipe. I used thinner beef slices and it was still excellent. Thank you!”
– A
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What is Yakiniku Don?
Yakiniku (焼き肉) is a popular style of grilled meat, similar to Korean BBQ. In Japanese, the term “yaki” (焼き) means “to grill” and “niku” (肉) means meat. Despite the simple name, there’s more to Yakiniku than simply throwing meat on a barbecue.
Yakiniku usually consists of sliced, bitesize pieces of meat (most commonly beef but also chicken or pork), offal (known as horumon), and vegetables cooked on a gridiron over a charcoal, gas, or electric grill.
It might seem to defeat the purpose of eating at a restaurant, but Yakiniku restaurants usually bring out raw ingredients that you cook by yourself using a grill in the center of the table. It’s fun, and you can enjoy the food at your own pace.
Once the ingredients are cooked, they are dipped in a delicious sauce and enjoyed with some side dishes and a beer!
When it comes to Yakiniku Don, it’s simple.
Yakiniku donburi is a simple dish where BBQ-style grilled meats (Yakiniku) are served on top of a bowl of rice (donburi).
You can make donburi with pretty much anything, and it’s considered a kind of fast food to Japanese people. The rice is usually topped with something delicious and quick to make. It usually doesn’t contain too many different ingredients to maintain simplicity.
I have a ton of donburi recipes. If interested, check out my top donburi recipes for more ideas!
How I Developed This Recipe
In creating this Yakiniku Donburi recipe, my primary goal was to keep it simple and quick enough for home preparation. While grilling over charcoal undoubtedly offers the best flavor, I understand that using a frying pan is more practical for a speedy home-cooked meal.
Despite simplifying the grilling process, I didn’t compromise on the Yakiniku sauce. The key was to develop a sauce that was both easy to make and authentic in taste, capturing the essence of the flavors.
This recipe is particularly fast to prepare, making it an excellent choice for a quick yet satisfying lunch. Give it a try!
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Thinly Sliced Beef or Meat of Choice: I often use short loin, outside skirt, short ribs, or flanks. Pork or chicken are also suitable.
- Cooked Japanese Short-Grain Rice: Short-grain Japanese rice is best used for donburi dishes. Recommended Japanese rice available in the U.S. and how to cook Japanese rice in a pot are explained in the How to Cook Japanese Rice Recipe.
- Finely Chopped Green Onion: For garnishing.
- Soft-Boiled Egg: Can also use pasteurized egg yolk or onsen tamago.
- Sauce Ingredients: Combination of soy sauce, mirin, sugar, honey, garlic paste, ginger paste, sesame oil, white sesame seeds, chili powder, and black pepper.
Because donburi is usually considered to be a quick and easy fast-food type of dish, they’re often lacking vegetables. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t add them and make it more nutritious and interesting! Here are a few ideas:
- Onion
- Bell peppers
- Mushrooms (sliced)
- Asparagus
- Sweetcorn
I recommend using vegetables that cook fast or can still be eaten a bit raw to keep the recipe quick.
In the end, yakiniku don is highly customizable, so feel free to get creative!
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Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Quick Yakiniku Donburi at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
STEP
Mix the sauce
The first step is to mix the sauce in a small bowl. You can also start preheating your pan on medium so it’s hot by the time the sauce is finished.
Simply mix soy sauce, mirin, honey, sugar, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds, chili powder and black pepper in a bowl. To make this step quick and convenient, I usually use store-bought ginger paste and garlic paste for this recipe, but if you don’t mind adding a few minutes to the preparation time, you can grate fresh ones for a stronger flavor.
STEP
Fry the beef
If you preheat the pan while making the sauce, it should be nice and hot already. Add a small drizzle of oil and add your thin slices of beef.
You don’t need to cook the beef all the way through; just seal and flip it so it’s lightly browned on both sides.
If adding vegetables
If you want to add vegetables to this dish, I recommend cooking them before the beef to ensure they’re cooked enough. Cooking times depend on the vegetable. Cut them thin so they cook fast, and see the variations section for ideas on what vegetables make good additions to this dish!
STEP
Add the sauce
Pour the sauce into the pan and stir-fry the meat for about 1 minute 30 seconds. You can turn up the heat too high to thicken the sauce a bit.
Remove it from the heat and dish up two bowls of rice.
STEP
Dish up
Place the meat on top of the rice and drizzle with the sauce in the pan.
Garnish with chopped spring onion and/or a boiled egg! (Optional)
Enjoy!
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FAQ
What is Yakiniku Sauce?
The thing that makes yakiniku special is the sauce, known in Japanese as “yakiniku tare” (焼き肉たれ). Yakiniku tare is usually tangy, sweet, savory, fruity and complex. You truly can’t enjoy yakiniku without a good yakiniku sauce!
The typical yakiniku sauce usually contains things such as:
Soy sauce
Mirin
Sake
Sugar or honey
Fruit juice or pulp
Garlic
Ginger
Shallots/onions
Sesame
Chilis / Chili paste (gochujang or similar)
There are lots of different types of yakiniku sauce, and each restaurant/brand has its own specialty sauce that uses a tonne of different ingredients. It can be hard to replicate, especially if you only want to make a small batch!
You can actually buy popular Japanese restaurant’s premade yakiniku sauce on Amazon such as Jojoen yakiniku sauce or Gyukaku yakiniku sauce. There’s also a popular brand called “Ebara” that sells spicy/fruity or hot yakiniku sauces.
But sometimes, I just want to recreate the delicious taste of yakiniku without too much fuss using ingredients I already have lying around in the kitchen! That’s why I made this quick and easy recipe with a “cheat” yakiniku sauce.
What kind of meat do you use for yakiniku?
Yakiniku always uses thinly sliced bitesize pieces of meat so that they cook quickly. By cutting them thin, even cheaper cuts won’t be too chewy.
While there’s no rule, the most common type of yakiniku is beef, and the generalized most popular cuts are:
Kalbi (カルビ) short rib
Harami (ハラミ) skirt steak
Rosu (ロース) loin
Tan (たん) tongue
You could really use any kind of beef, as long as it’s cut relatively thin. Use what is available to you! And if you don’t eat beef, you can use pork or chicken instead. I recommend fatty cuts (like pork belly or chicken thigh) to make it extra tasty and juicy!
How to cut yakiniku meat?
It can be difficult to find suitable meat for yakiniku outside of Asia, but don’t fear it because it’s not so hard to cut it yourself!
You only need a block of your chosen beef, a sharp knife, and a freezer.
Simply wrap up the meat block and firm it up in the freezer. You want it to be hard enough that it holds its shape but soft enough to cut through, so don’t freeze completely! I’d say 20-30 minutes per ½ lb (approx 225g) of meat is a good amount of time, but it depends on your freezer and climate, so keep checking it.
Once it’s firm and cold, cut the slices to your preferred thickness, and they’re ready to use!
I hope you enjoy this Yakiniku Don recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers.Thank you!
More Quick Lunch Recipes
- Sukiya Gyudon (Japanese Beef Bowl)
- Niku Yasai Itame (Japanese Vegetable Stir Fry with Pork)
- Easy and Delicious Ponzu Chicken
- Okinawa Taco Rice And Cheese (Cafe Style)
- Tamago Sando(Japanese-Style Egg Sandwich)
Want more inspiration? Explore my Japanese Lunch Recipe Roundup Post for a carefully selected collection of tasty recipe ideas to spark your next meal!
Yakiniku Don (Japanese BBQ Style Beef Bowl)
5 from 2 votes
By Yuto Omura
Tender pieces of frying steak pan fried in a quick and easy Japanese-style BBQ "yakiniku" style sauce served over fluffy white rice. This yakiniku beef bowl is packed with flavor and only takes 10 minutes!
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Cook Time5 minutes mins
Total Time10 minutes mins
Course Beef, Donburi, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 2 portions
Calories 896
Prep Time: 5 minutes mins
Cook Time: 5 minutes mins
Total Time: 10 minutes mins
Course: Beef, Donburi, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: Japanese
Servings: 2 portions
Calories: 896
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe
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Ingredients
Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp garlic paste or 1 crushed clove
- 1 tsp ginger paste or grated fresh ginger
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tbsp white sesame seeds
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
Yakiniku Don
- 300 g thinly sliced beef or meat of your choice
- 2 portions cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- 2 tsp finely chopped green onion(s) to garnish
- 2 soft-boiled egg(s) or egg yolk, pasteurized, optional
Instructions
Measure out all of the sauce ingredients (2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp garlic paste, 1 tsp ginger paste, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, 1/2 tbsp white sesame seeds, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper into a small bowl and mix thoroughly.
Heat a frying pan on a medium. Once hot, add a small drizzle of oil and 300 g thinly sliced beef. Sear on both sides (don't cook all the way through).
Once seared, add the sauce and stir fry the meat for 1 minute 30 seconds. (Increase the heat to high if you want to thicken the sauce.)
Remove the pan from the heat and prepare 2 portions cooked Japanese short-grain rice.
Arrange the meat on top of the rice and drizzle the sauce in the pan over the top.
Top with chopped spring onion and a boiled egg (optional).
Enjoy!
Video
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Notes
If you want to add vegetables to this dish, fry them before adding the beef. (You can use the same pan.)
Nutrition
Serving: 342.2g | Calories: 896kcal | Carbohydrates: 66.7g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 63.5g | Saturated Fat: 19.92g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.22g | Cholesterol: 119mg | Sodium: 1166mg | Fiber: 2.7g
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