Change up the flavor of your Japanese beef rice bowl with my quick and easy recipe for Beef Donburi with Shiso Garlic Soy Sauce. The homemade, all-purpose condiment of soy sauce infused with perilla leaves and garlic adds a lovely aroma and taste to the dish.
I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. This past Saturday my Chicken Adobo made it Top 9 dish on Foodbuzz. To me and my husband, it was really like winning the lottery because we didn’t expect it at all. I would like to thank all my readers for visiting my site. I’ve been working hard for my website and I really appreciate your time here. And for those of you who found me through the Foodbuzz Top 9 link, welcome! I am sincerely happy if you enjoy my website and recipes.
Now let’s talk about today’s recipe. In my previous post (just below), I talked about this great sauce called Shiso Garlic Soy Sauce. Today’s recipe is a Beef Donburi using this sauce.
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Beef Donburi with Shiso Garlic Soy Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 potato (cut into thin strips)
- neutral oil (for sautéing)
For the Beef Mixture
- ¾ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) (cut into strips; I used thinly sliced “shabu shabu“ beef from a Japanese grocery store; you can thinly slice meat at home)
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp potato starch or cornstarch
For the Donburi Seasoning
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp Homemade Shiso Garlic Soy Sauce (make in advance using my recipe)
For Serving
- 3 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (typically 1⅔ cups (250 g) per donburi serving)
Instructions
- Before You Start: For the steamed rice, please note that 2¼ cups (450 g, 3 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 6⅔ cups (990 g) of cooked white rice, enough for 3 donburi servings (5 cups, 750 g). See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
- In a large bowl, combine the meat mixture: ¾ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye), 1 Tbsp sake, 1 tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and 1 Tbsp potato starch or cornstarch. Mix well with your hands.
To Cook
- In a nonstick frying pan, heat a bit of neutral oil on medium heat. Add ½ onion (thinly sliced) and 1 potato (cut into thin strips) and cook until tender.
- Add the meat to the pan and cook thoroughly until it is cooked through.
- Add 2 Tbsp sugar and 3 Tbsp Homemade Shiso Garlic Soy Sauce and mix all together.
- Let it simmer for a few minutes. Divide 3 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice into individual donburi (large) bowls. Serve the beef mixture over the rice. [optional] Take out the perilla leaves from the Shiso Garlic Soy Sauce and cut into thin strips. Sprinkle them on top of the beef and serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
Hi Nami,
Besides the beef donburi recipe, what other recipes do you have that uses the shiso garlic soy sauce. I have just made 2 batches of the sauce. One batch seems so little.
Thanks and best regards,
Daria
Hi Daria! Anything that goes well with shiso/garlic flavor soy sauce. For chilled tofu, seasoning noodles, stir fry… just think of it as a soy sauce. 🙂
Goniziwa , I made this last night and it was so good ! Obviously I omitted shiso leaves since i can’t find here in Italia, still came out good and it’s a brilliant idea to add potatoes which I never thought about it.
you probably notice that I’m Korean “hence my last name & first name” we often stir-fry onions and Potatoes like this very common dish for breakfast whenever I see your recipes & go to Japan there are lots of similarities yet so different ! Anyways thanks for the good one !
Konnichiwa HyeMi! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Yeah it’s not easy to find shiso if you don’t have a Japanese grocery store… 🙁
Glad you liked the potato idea. 🙂 I know, we have so many similarities but a bit different. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Korean food too. With my tolerance for spice went up, I could enjoy way more Koran foods. 🙂 Thank you for your kind note!
Hi Nami..I can’t find shiso leaves here. What can I use to substitute? Normal soy sauce?
Hi Angie! This “shiso garlic soy sauce” relies on shiso for flavor and fragrance. So… you can’t really substitute to make this. However you can use other herbs of your choice too. It’s just not close to shiso flavors – shiso is so unique and wonderful. And yes, normal Japanese soy sauce. 🙂
can you use anything as a substitute for the shiso. and what would you recommend as a garnish for this dish to make it look more colorful?
Hi Nhu-Y! Unfortunately it’s really impossible to substitute shiso as it’s unique herb… Korean perilla is similar but slightly different, and that’s probably the closest to Japanese shiso. You could add any other colorful vegetables to cook, or top with scallion. 🙂
Take out shiso from container and cut into thin strips??? I don’t understand, I thought shiso is garlic sauce?
Hi Nagi! Shiso (Perilla) that you soaked in the Shiso Garlic Soy Sauce. 🙂 The container should have 3 ingredients – shiso, garlic, and soy sauce (https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/shiso-garlic-soy-sauce/). I use the shiso in the garlic soy sauce to put on top of donburi. 🙂 Hope this makes sense.
It looks awesome! I think my husband would love this. About how many grams of meat is in a package? It looks like a lot in the picture.
Hi Laura! I updated the recipe – 1 package is usually 3/4 to 1 lb, so it’s about 350-400g. 🙂
After trying your yakisoba on Sunday, I just had to try this dish tonight. Another success! My husband loved it. The shiso garlic soy sauce is amazing – can’t wait to use it in lots of other dishes. I also made your pickled daikon, as I had some leftover from another recipe. Thanks so much!
Hi Josie! I agree – shiso garlic soy sauce is amazing and love it! I stopped sharing the shiso garlic soy sauce recipes as most readers cannot have access to shiso leaves… but I hope you enjoy this sauce and enjoy it for many other uses! It’s great with yaki onigiri and fried rice too! 🙂 Thank you for trying my recipes, Josie! xo
Hi I had a question about the meat. Last time I went to a Japanese supermarket I remember seeing shabu shabu meat. I thought I remember it being pretty expensive how much is a regular package generally cost? Is this package you’re referring to a basic pound or much,much less? Please help me! Thanks.
Hi Katie! It usually costs around $7-8/lb. You can use “Komagire” (scraps) for this donburi too, which is cheaper. Another option is to freeze the meat and thinly slice yourself.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/thinly-sliced-meats/
Hope that helps. 🙂
i have not been able to find shiso leaves here. is there something i could substitute? do they have a powdered shiso?
thank you and Happy 2013!
Hi Jody! I’m really sorry to say but shiso leaves are not replaceable for this recipe. If there is no Japanese store around you, check Korean market (if there is any). Korean and Japanese cuisine use shiso leaves often, so you can find it most likely… Or we need to plant the seeds by ourselves….which I’m thinking of doing one day. 😉
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Hello!!!
Just want to tell you that I tried this recipe yesterday, and it was DELICIOUS!!! :))
Sandy
Hi Sandy! Yaaaay! I’m so glad you liked this! Thank you so much for letting me know. You made my Friday even better! 😀