A beef bowl is called “gyudon” in Japanese. “Gyu” means beef and don is short for “donburi” which is food served on top of rice in a bowl. There are many gyudon restaurants in Japan and it is very popular, especially for men. It’s kind of like fast food, but much healthier. Many gyudon restaurants are open for 24 hours, and men typically go there after a night of drinking.

The teriyaki burger is an original Japanese recipe, and a popular menu item at fast-food restaurants. McDonalds is famous for their teriyaki burger in Japan. It almost as easy as making a regular burger. Impress your family or friends at your next BBQ party!

This recipe is pretty simple but there are many ways to prepare it. Nikumiso is great with steamed rice, fried rice, fried noodles, pasta, sandwiches, and very tasty just wrapped in lettuce. The possibilities are endless… The recipe I made here was a nikumiso bento box (lunchbox), served on a bed of rice, and topped with a fried egg and carrots for extra deliciousness!

This is simple, quick-stir fry recipe! It’s a great anytime dish, best served with salad and steamed rice. Enjoy!

Japanese steakhouses serve garlic rice after the meal, and many of them cook teppanyaki style (preparing the meal on a grill in front of you). It’s really fun to watch and be served by the chef moments after he cooks it for you!

This recipe is a request from one of our readers. “Curry pan” (pan means bread in Japanese) is curry wrapped in dough and deep fried. It is very popular dish for us. Almost every bakery has curry pan and you can also buy it individually wrapped at conveinence stores. Usually you use regular flour dough but you can also use pancake mix. It’s sweet, easy and quick! You can also use your original curry or instant curry for this recipe. It reheats well too, so it’s perfect for leftovers or lunch boxes.

“Nasu” is the Japanese word for eggplant, and “gyuniku” is beef. “Amazu” means sweet vinegar sauce. Japanese eggplant is smaller than western eggplant, but you can use either kind for this recipe.

Japanese: nasu to gyuniku no amazu itame

The combination of cheese and mochi (rice cake) gives the okonomiyaki a gooey texture, kind of like a cheese pizza. It’s fun to make a variety of okonomiyaki for parties.

Also check out my recipe for Kansai style okonomiyaki.

Fried rice is typically very easy to make but a little hard to make it taste great. But the more you make it, the better it gets! Beef and pickled ginger is my favorite fried rice combination, but if you don’t like or cannot find pickled ginger, try regular pickles. It may sound strange but tastes great!

This is a very popular home cooking meal. It has been in Japan for over a hundred years and many families have their own custom version of this recipe. Enjoy!!

You can find many varieties of steak in Japan. At Japanese-style steakhouses we eat with chopsticks, so when the meal comes, the beef is already cut into bite sizes! Miso is delicious with beef, so please give it a shot when you want to try something different.

Nikudofu is a popular dish in Japanese homes. The taste is similar to sukiyaki, but it is much easier to make, so you can whip it together if you’re busy or just feeling lazy!

Nira (chives), garlic, and beef taste very good together! Many Japanese believe that garlic gives you strength, so I prefer to make this recipe if I’m feeling tired! It is good with steamed rice and also I like to eat it wrapped in lettuce with some chili sauce.

Japanese: Nikudango.
This is a popular recipe for bento boxes (lunch boxes), and it is even very popular at many Chinese restaurants in Japan.

This one is a little different, because we don’t usually use cucumber in stir-fry, but the Chinese chef I used to work for used to make it for us special, and it tastes really good. Please give it a shot and comment if you like it (or not!).

Nikujyaga is a very popular meal at home in Japan. The ingredients are typically beef or pork, potato, onion, and carrot stewed in a somewhat sweet sauce. Boys will often request their girlfriends to make this dish because it is very much a comfort food. Thus, many women will remark that it is their favorite and most delicious dish to make.

Tingyao Rosu is a Chinese stir-fry with pork and thinly cut green peppers. It’s very popular in Japan but we typically make it with beef, green peppers, and bamboo. You can actually buy a Tingyo Rosu kit at Japanese supermarkets. Just add fresh green pepper and life is good.

Sukiyaki is a traditional Japanese meal, a variety of vegetables and thinly sliced beef cooked in a hot pot. Sukiyaki is perfect for family meals. Typically, a family will sit around the hot pot and talk about the day’s events, enjoying their time together. Each family has their own style of sukiyaki, suited to their tastes, and you can experiment to create your favorite version!

“Hamburg” steak, a Japanese variation of the hamburger, is very popular home cooking meal, especially for children. It is also a popular item in bento boxes (Japanese lunch boxes). It is softer than hamburger meat, so it’s good with steamed rice. It’s commonly served in family restaurants, as well as entire restaurants dedicated to it, called “hamburg restaurants”. There are many kinds of hamburg in Japan, Japanese sauce, cream sauce, cheese, tofu etc. This recipe is the most common style.

Qing geng cai is a Chinese vegetable and it is very good for stir-fry. You can get it at any Chinese super market. This dish is very quick and filling. Enjoy!

This is a Japanese style croquette—we call it “korokke”. It is deep fried crushed potato. We also have a cream sauce croquette with shrimp or crab. My favorite way to eat it is to buy it directly from deli and eat is on the street! It is super yummy! I made four servings this time, please half all the ingredients if you want to make it for 2. I always make extra and keep it freezer.

This is the most common Teppanyaki (food that is grilled on an iron griddle) food. Okonomiyaki restaurants are everywhere in Japan. Osaka and Hiroshima are both very famous for Okonomiyaki. Osaka okonomiyaki (referred to as Kansaiyaki) and Hiroshima okonomiyaki (Hiroshimayaki) are prepared much differently. I made the Kansai style this time!!