Hayashi Rice, or hashed beef, is a rich Western-style stew of thin-sliced beef and mushrooms in a velvety demi-glace sauce. Served with steamed rice, this uniquely Japanese creation is a home-cooking staple and popular comfort food for all ages!
One of my son’s favorite Japanese food is Hayashi Rice (ハヤシライス). He has such passion for the stew that he can talk about how much he loves the tender beef and the delicious demi-glace sauce in great animation. It can be entertaining to watch a kid talk about food sometimes. There is so much excitement, and it warms my heart knowing that all the hours spent in the kitchen is greatly appreciated. I digress a little, but let’s get back to Hayashi Rice, a family staple and a comfort dish for all ages in Japan.
Table of Contents
What is Hayashi Rice?
Hayashi rice (ハヤシライス), sometimes called Hashed Beef (ハッシュドビーフ), is a popular and common Western-style dish in Japan but ironically “unknown” in Western countries.
Hayashi Rice usually consists of thinly sliced beef, onions, and button mushrooms cooked in a demi-glace sauce. This beef stew-like Hayashi Rice is served alongside steamed rice, like how Japanese Curry and Cream Stew are served.
Origin of The Name “Hayashi”
There are some theories regarding the origin of the name of this dish:
- The name was given by Yuteki Hayashi, the first president of the publishing company Maruzen (丸善).
- The name was produced by a cook named Hayashi who often served this dish as staff meals at the Ueno Seiyōken (上野精養軒), a popular yoshoku restaurant in Tokyo Ueno. We tried the hayashi rice there this past summer.
- The name “Hayashi” is simply derived from the British dish “hashed beef”, and it is served over steamed rice so people started to call it Hayashi Rice.
The last one seems to be the most popular theory, as this dish is still called Hashed Beef sometimes.
What is a Demi-Glace Sauce?
Demi-glace sauce is French for “half glaze”, which is by definition a mixture of half brown stock and half Espagnole sauce that is reduced by half.
Espagnole sauce (sometimes called brown sauce) is a classic brown sauce made from the stock of which mirepoix (onions, celery, and carrots), a bouquet garni, and tomato puree are added and then thickened with roux. After making the Espagnole sauce, you will use it to produce a demi-glace.
Demi-glace was introduced to Japan with the arrival of French cuisine during the Meiji era (1868-1912). The sauce is used to make Hayashi Rice and other Western-style dishes. I have a separate blog post/recipe for my homemade shortcut demi-glace sauce. Don’t worry, the step is not difficult at all, but it does require some time to make (mostly inactive time).
3 Useful Tips for Making Hayashi Rice
1. Get small bottles of wine and tomato juice
I use sake regularly in my cooking, but I don’t use much red wine for cooking. Although Mr. JOC would be more than happy to open a really good wine to accompany this meal, we won’t be able to finish a bottle in one night as I’m not much of a drinker. If you or your guests are not wine drinkers, I have a really good tip to share with you.
Get a 4-pack Sutter Home® Cabernet Sauvignon – as each bottle only contains 6.3 oz/187 ml, they are perfect for cooking!
The same goes for tomato juice. I am not a fan of tomato juice (although I love tomatoes); therefore, a small 5.5 oz/163 ml mini can of Campbell’s Tomato Juice is great for this recipe.
2. Worcestershire sauce
I keep both Japanese Bulldog Worcestershire sauce and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce in my refrigerator and use each sauce for different recipes. Bulldog sauce is slightly sweeter and Lea & Perrins sauce has a tangy taste. For this recipe, I decided to use Bulldog sauce. If you use Lea & Perrins, increase the sugar to 1 tablespoon (instead of 2 teaspoons).
3. Where to find thinly-slice beef and DIY method
In a Japanese grocery store, most of the meat is cut into paper-thin and nicely packaged. For those of you who can’t find pre-cut thinly sliced meat, you can easily do this at your own home. Follow this tutorial to cut the meat thinly, and once you master this skill, you can make Sukiyaki, Shabu Shabu, and many Japanese dishes that require thinly sliced meat.
Homemade vs. Storebought Hayashi Rice Sauce Mix
I’ve been making Hayashi Rice for several decades but I have to admit that I never made everything from scratch (excluding beef broth) until this year.
When I was in college, Hayashi Rice was on my meal rotations. With the convenient “instant roux” (a box containing blocks of roux), Hayashi Rice was so easy and quick to make, just like Japanese curry. In fact, the ingredients for Hayashi Rice are simpler, so I probably made more Hayashi Rice than Japanese curry back in the day.
For the past 10 years, I’ve attempted to make Hayashi Rice for the kids without those MSG-packed instant roux packages. However, several versions of my so-called “shortcut” Hayashi Rice didn’t get approval from my family. I tried to make demi-glace sauce by mixing various condiments to resemble the taste, which didn’t turn out quite right.
I’ve also made a partially-homemade version using premade Demi-Glace Sauce in a can, which turned out okay. Heinz offers this canned demi-glace sauce only for the Japanese market. You can buy one from a well-stocked Japanese grocery store here in the U.S. or Amazon (but at a ridiculous price).
With a growing number of readers’ requests for this recipe, I knew it was time for me to attempt Hayashi Rice from scratch, without using the instant roux and premade demi-glace sauce.
I’ll be honest upfront. This recipe takes time, and it’s definitely one of those dishes that you would cook on weekends or holidays. But I know for sure that those who try will come back to make it again and again because it is so darn good. My son even proclaimed the recipe was just as good as some of the yoshoku restaurants he has tried.
Making Hayashi Rice from scratch gave me a great sense of accomplishment, and I hope you feel the same when you make this delicious meal for your loved ones too!
Hayashi Rice Leftover Ideas
If you have any leftovers, the sauce is great for serving over Omurice (omelet and rice) or Japanese-style hamburger steak (Hambagu). These dishes are common on the menu at Yoshoku-ya (western style diners).
- Omuhayashi (Omurice + Hayashi Rice)
- Japanese-style hamburger steak (Hambagu) with Hayashi Rice sauce on top
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Hayashi Rice
Video
Ingredients
For the Beef
- 1 lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) (you can thinly slice your own meat)
- 2 Tbsp red wine
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
For the Vegetables
- 1½ onions
- 3.5 oz shimeji mushrooms (1 package)
- 4 button mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Sauce
- 3 cups Homemade Demi-Glace Sauce (prepared in advance using my recipe)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- ½ cup red wine
- 4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (I use Japanese Bull-Dog brand; for other brands that are more tangy, increase the brown sugar to 1 Tbsp from 2 tsp)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp ketchup
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1¼ cups tomato juice (2 cans, 163 ml each)
- 1 bay leaf
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Prepare the demi-glace ahead of time using my recipe.
To Prepare the Beef and Vegetables
- Place 1 lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) in a bowl and season with 2 Tbsp red wine, ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
- Cut 1½ onions in half lengthwise, and cut each half into thin strips widthwise. Cut off the end of 3.5 oz shimeji mushrooms and separate them into small clusters. Cut 4 button mushrooms into thin slices.
To Cook the Hayashi Rice
- Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. When it‘s hot, add the beef.
- Sauté until no longer pink. Then, transfer the beef to a bowl.
- Melt 1 Tbsp unsalted butter in the same pot.
- Add the onion and ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Sauté until coated well with oil.
- Crush or mince 2 cloves garlic and add to the pot. Sauté until tender.
- Add 1 Tbsp tomato paste and ½ cup red wine.
- Add 4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce and 1 Tbsp soy sauce.
- Add 3 Tbsp ketchup and 2 tsp brown sugar.
- Add 1¼ cups tomato juice and 3 cups Homemade Demi-Glace Sauce.
- Add 1 bay leaf. Then, add the beef back into the pot.
- Add the mushrooms.
- Cover and bring it to a boil.
- Skim the foam and scum using a fine-mesh skimmer. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Open the lid and taste the Hayashi Rice. If necessary, season with Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
To Serve
- Serve steamed rice on one side of the plate and serve the Hayashi Rice on the other side. Enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftover in the refrigerator for 3 days or freeze for up to a month.
Hi Nami!
I’ve been wanting to make a vegetarian version for a while and finally made it! I used kombu-shiitake dashi for the demi-glace instead of beef stock, and replaced the beef by slices of seasoned tofu.
It was to die for!!! So much umami.
Oh, and I also replaced the tomatoe juice by more tomato paste and kombu-shiitake dashi!
Thank you for the recipe!
Hi, Alex! Wow! We’re happy to hear you successfully converted this recipe to a vegetarian version!
Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us.😃
Happy cooking!
This dish really was incredible. I couldn’t get over how flavourful it was, and it almost knocked me out with deliciousness as leftovers the next day. While it’s certainly a time-intensive recipe if you’re making the demi-glace from scratch (like I had to), your recipe makes it feel much more approachable. Even without using beef it tasted delicious – I didn’t want to interfere with the flavours too much making it vegan/vegetarian so I simply used thinly-sliced king oyster mushrooms since mushrooms already featured in the recipe and it was perfect. I really can’t overstate it! Thank you so much for always providing such wonderfully straight-forward recipes!
Hi Bunny! Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We are so happy to hear that you enjoyed homemade demi-glace sauce and Hayashi rice.
Thank you for sharing your cooking experience with us!🤗
Hello! Sorry I’m a bit late in the game in making this. May I please know if there is a good alternative to tomato juice? It’s unfortunately rather difficult to find tomato juice where I am. Thank you!
Hi Jia, Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
Do you have access to Tomato paste? If so, you can mix 1/4 cup tomato paste and 1 cup water as a substitute or blend the whole or diced tomatoes with their juice in a food processor or blender until smooth.
We hope this helps!
Yes we do have tomato paste/diced tomatoes. Thanks!
Great! We hope you enjoy Hayashi Rice!
I made this today, my family absolutely loved it!! Thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
Hi Novi! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind words!
We are so happy to hear your family loved this recipe!
Happy Cooking!
This is so delicious. Oishi! Thank you Nami san!
Hi Agnes, Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Is there anyway to replace the red wine?
Hi Lena, Thank you for trying this recipe! You can skip the red wine.🙂 We hope this helps!
Hi Nami,
If I were to use the instant-roux, which step would this be at and what other ingredients would not be needed?
Thanks. 🙂
Hi Jennifer,
If you use the instant store-bought roux, usually add at the end after all the ingredients have been cooked with broth. And you don’t need listed seasonings in this recipe since it already includes it in the instant roux. However, you can add extra wine, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, etc., to make it step up from the instant flavor.
We hope this helps!
Thanks a lot for the reply Nami! Tried as how you recommended and it tasted great 😀
Hi Jennifer!
It is our pleasure! We are glad to hear you enjoyed it!
First time making this and it was an instant hit with the family! Will definitely be using this recipe again.
Thankyou for sharing!
Hi Olivia! Wow thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!!! Thanks for your kind feedback. xo
I have now made your hayashi rice recipe twice and both times it turned out exactly as it is supposed to and is completely delicious!
I have two questions, I have a friend who is allergic to dairy, therefore butter cannot be used, do you have suggestions for alternative to butter other than margarine?
Second question is that the roux doesn’t make the hayashi rice very thick (少しゆるい）is this intentional?
Hi Eli! Thank you so much for trying my recipe (twice!) and I’m happy to hear you enjoy it. Here are my answers. 🙂
1) Hmmm you can use vegetable oil or fat to make the roux. It won’t give depth but it still works.
2) When we eat this dish at Yoshoku restaurant, the sauce is actually not as thick as the premade Hayashi Rice package roux (now this is pretty thick). So my intention was similar to the one we eat in Yoshoku restaurant. If yours come too thin, increase the amount of roux (flour mixture) or decrease the amount of liquid.
Would you recommend making the premade sauce hayashi rice in an instant pot? If so, how much water should I use, how long should I cook, and how long should I natural release (if at all)?
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I tried searching around and cross referencing your other instant pot recipes (curry, cream stew), but I thought I’d ask to be sure.
I couldn’t really find any recipes specifically using the instant pot. Does that mean it’s not a good idea for hayashi rice in particular?
So I actually tried it out and this is what I did:
1. Saute the beef and onions in the instant pot for a few minutes
2. Pour in one 14.5 oz can of chicken broth, place the mushrooms on top, and the boxed roux on top without mixing.
3. Cook on high pressure for 6 min and natural release for at least 15 min. Here I used a 1/3 time rule I read elsewhere (box said simmer time is 20 min so I just did a third in the IP).
4. After releasing the rest of the pressure and opening the pot, I stirred the undissolved roux into the liquid until it looked smooth.
It came out delicious! I hope this helps anyone else looking to make it with the instant pot. I ate it with medium grain rice and Italian bread.
Hi Ren! I am sorry for my late response. I had been sick for over 2 weeks so my response has been really slow. I apologize.
But you did it! What you did sounds very good! With a thinly meat, so cooking time should be very minimal. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me and my readers. They will really appreciate your comment. 🙂
hi i am a working mum so i don’t have much time to make the demi glacé sauce. If i use the canned version of demi glacé sauce, how much should i use for this recipe?
Hi Evelyn! Each can have specific instruction/recipe in the back usually as I assume every brand made it differently? But if not, add the canned demi glace sauce at Step 6 and do NOT add all the other ingredients. Now after demi glace sauce is in it, add beef stock. I would adjust the taste with ingredients you skipped. If you want more tomato flavor, add that in. If you need more sweetness, add sugar in, etc. Hope that helps!
About how much demi glacé would you say is needed?
Hi Anna! Sorry, I did not measure the amount as I made in demi glace recipe (https://www.justonecookbook.com/demi-glace/) and used all of it.
I can’t seem to find a way to print the demi-glace recipe. Any help, Nami?
Hi Susan! I apologize for my late response. Could you try again from clicking “Print” button inside the recipe card? It will pop up a new window for printing.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/demi-glace/
Let me know how it goes. 🙂