Gyūdon

Gyudon (Japanese牛 丼) is a very popular food in Japan, which consists of a bowl of rice, boiled beef and onions in a mild sweet sauce. This sauce is seasoned with soy sauce and rice wine mirin. The dish is often served with pickled ginger and miso soup.

The name originated from gyu ( "cattle", as an abbreviation for gyūniku = beef) and don as an abbreviation for donburi, the name given to a large bowl of rice with vegetables, meat or the like.

Gyudon is offered in many Japanese restaurants. Some fast-food chains that specialize in this dish. The largest of these chains in Japan, Yoshinoya. Gyudon can also be found in many Chinese cities, such as Guangzhou,. The biggest specialized in this chain in China is Kung Fu.

On 11 February 2004 Yoshinoya and most of the competitors had to suspend sales of gyudon result of the BSE crisis and the subsequent ban on imports of U.S. beef. In September 2006, the ban was lifted. Until then, Yoshinoya had a similar dish of pork sold (豚 丼, Butadon ).