"Generic Yoshinoya Gyudon" Built from the Official Ingredient List

At the start, Ryuji says that their favorite gyudon chain is Sukiya, with Yoshinoya in second place. The reason given for Sukiya is that "it tastes the most like seasoning, and it's delicious." Asked why they chose Yoshinoya anyway, Ryuji jokingly answers, "Because it'll probably get good numbers."

According to Ryuji, many Yoshinoya copycat recipes use dashi. Ryuji says going in that direction would have been fine too, but this time the approach is to follow "the original source." Calling themself an ingredient-label fanatic, Ryuji says the ingredient list Yoshinoya publishes for its "large gyudon topping" is the most detailed, and shares it with the staff.

The ingredients Ryuji reads out are: beef; sauce (sugar, soy sauce, powdered soy sauce, wine, salt, processed soy sauce product, ginger, onion extract, garlic, white pepper); onions (domestic or US-grown); alcohol; and seasoning (amino acids). Since the official list includes them, they're definitely in there, so Ryuji wants to use these ingredients.

As for "seasoning (amino acids)," Ryuji's view is that whatever is listed under that is generally Ajinomoto, and you can assume it's "pretty much 99% Ajinomoto." For the wine, Ryuji uses white rather than red, recalling that Yoshinoya officially said somewhere that it uses a white wine base. White pepper is hard to find, so Ryuji figures that ordinary store-bought table pepper, a mix of white and black, should be fine. What's in the "processed soy sauce product" isn't clear, but Ryuji guesses it contains kombu dashi and uses kombu dashi. Ryuji laughs that this part is "dubious." Because alcohol is listed, sake is added as well.

Mirin, sugar, beni shoga (red pickled ginger), and rice are also prepared. The quantities are for two servings to make it easy, and Ryuji says you can halve them.

The beef used this time is from Australia, and according to Ryuji it's a little thick. Yoshinoya's meat is thinner, short plate about 1 mm thick. But since this meat is nicely marbled, the beef tallow Ryuji had prepared isn't used. If you're using lean beef, Ryuji recommends adding beef tallow.

On choosing meat, Ryuji also asks viewers to buy a jumbo pack of cheap Australian beef or the like rather than expensive domestic beef.

The onions are cut into wedges. When the staff ask how thick, Ryuji hesitates a moment before answering that about 1 cm is fine. Yoshinoya's gyudon has a lot of onion, and Ryuji says the chain used to accept orders for "tamadaku," with extra onions. Ryuji adds that they don't know whether that's still the case. The ginger and garlic are grated later.

What Ryuji emphasizes most is the step of pounding the meat thin and breaking it up. Thick meat used as is won't taste like Yoshinoya. The meat is spread out and pounded with the bottle of white wine to be used later, until it looks like a "tattered rag." The more shredded, the better, in Ryuji's view. Yoshinoya's meat really is paper-thin, and Ryuji says anyone who eats there often will know. If the meat is already thin, this step isn't necessary, but Ryuji reckons that kind of meat isn't often sold at supermarkets.

Showing the pounded meat, Ryuji says, "Once you do this, you're basically done." Even with thinly sliced beef meant for gyudon, Ryuji says it's better to pound it if you like the shredded texture. Ryuji explains that shredded meat goes better with rice, and since the restaurants have been doing it this way for decades, it's a necessary step.

Put 100 cc of water and the onions in a pot and add the seasonings. Partway through, Ryuji also remarks, "If this step is a hassle, just go to Yoshinoya. That's the easiest."

• Soy sauce: 2 tablespoons (soy sauce is the base flavor)
• Mirin: 2 tablespoons
• Sake: 1 tablespoon (because alcohol is listed)
• White wine: 1 tablespoon
• Sugar: 1 teaspoon
• Kombu dashi
• Grated ginger: about 6 g for two servings
• Grated garlic: half the amount of ginger, about 3 g

When the staff ask whether it's OK to leave out the white wine, Ryuji answers that some white wines are acidic depending on the brand, so you can skip it if you don't have any. Still, adding it brings the result closer to Yoshinoya. If you're not using white wine, double the sake to about 2 tablespoons.

Ryuji stresses that the dashi "absolutely has to be kombu dashi." Using bonito dashi gives it a bonito flavor and makes it taste like Nakau. This leads to a chat with the staff about Nakau's oyakodon, and Ryuji says oyakodon absolutely has to be bonito.

Ginger goes in because it's on the official list. As for garlic, the staff say they didn't know it was in there, and Ryuji acknowledges it isn't a flavor you can detect when eating, but explains that it's definitely written on the ingredient list. Since ginger is listed before garlic, Ryuji reads that as meaning the ginger should come through more strongly.

The liquid reduces quickly, so cover the pot and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes to cook the onions through. There's also the option of parboiling the beef, but Ryuji says they don't like parboiling and adds it straight in, because the fat from the meat is delicious too. Partway through, Ryuji realizes the pepper was forgotten and adds two shakes. Whether to add Ajinomoto will be decided later after tasting.

While it simmers, Ryuji talks about other chains. Ryuji suspects that other gyudon chains don't use white wine. Sukiya uses the most umami seasoning, Ryuji explains, but its balance is good, which is why Ryuji likes it. Ryuji's position is that more umami seasoning isn't automatically better; what matters is balance.

Since gyudon is a fast food that originated in Japan, Ryuji thinks it tastes better with plenty of umami. If the same flavor were served at a high-end ryotei, though, you'd go "no, no," so Ryuji adds that it depends on the case.

Ryuji says people often ask whether copycat recipes are a nuisance to the restaurants. Ryuji's answer is that they aren't. No one goes out of their way to make at home something they can eat for a few hundred yen. Even so, these recipes have value: they're very much appreciated by people living overseas or without a restaurant nearby. They're also good for people who want to eat a lot at home.

As an example, Ryuji mentions hearing that after releasing "Generic Yamaokaya," Yamaokaya got very crowded. While saying they don't know whether it was their doing, Ryuji says many people reported watching the generic version, getting a craving, and actually going to the restaurant. People with a restaurant nearby can just go there when they get a craving, so there's no competition. Ryuji believes it actually helps the restaurants, and says they've never heard of sales dropping because of a copycat recipe. Ryuji says the Generic series will continue.

After simmering for 5 minutes, the onions turn slightly translucent. Add the pounded meat and break it apart so it doesn't clump. Ryuji says "to some extent is fine," but if you're serious about recreating it, you should break it up thoroughly, since the broken-up look is part of what makes it feel like a gyudon shop.

Adding the meat lowers the temperature, so bring it back to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Without enough simmering, the flavor won't soak into the meat and it won't taste like Yoshinoya. Ryuji shows it at about the 2-minute mark and says there are about 8 minutes left. At the end, taste it, and if something's off, such as needing more soy sauce or more salt, adjust it then. Ryuji calls this "the easiest-to-make Yoshinoya-style ratio I can think of," and reveals that the ratios were changed from an earlier test version.

The staff ask whether you should just add more water if you want it tsuyudaku, with extra sauce. Ryuji answers that pouring all the liquid here over the rice would already count as "tsuyudaku." But with Yoshinoya's gyudon, the more sauce, the more salt. Adding water makes it juicier but dilutes the beef flavor, so Ryuji prefers it about like this. On the other hand, since the beef also releases moisture, Ryuji says you can adjust afterward to make it tsuyudaku. Ryuji personally isn't a tsuyudaku person, but rather someone who piles on beni shoga.

When Matsuya comes up in the chat, Ryuji adds that Matsuya's dish has to be called "gyumeshi."

After tasting, Ryuji says it has "a very good flavor," and that adding umami seasoning might push it toward Sukiya. Ryuji then decides it would be better with a little more soy sauce and finishes it with about 2 teaspoons. On the appearance, Ryuji stresses that it looks just like Yoshinoya because the beef was pounded, and that this kind of extra step matters.

Prices also come up. According to the staff, a regular bowl at Yoshinoya currently costs around 480 yen. Ryuji recalls that it was 280 yen when they were young, and, searching their memory, lists what Sukiya and Yoshinoya used to cost. Ryuji then offers the view that today's price is fair and that it used to be too cheap.

As for simmering time, Ryuji says those who want it even more shredded can go 15 to 20 minutes. But since it becomes delicious as gyudon after 10 minutes, and Ryuji also wants to pursue the appeal of homemade food, about 10 minutes is Ryuji's preference. In practice, it ended up simmering about 15 minutes while the rice was being warmed.

Finally, two shakes of Ajinomoto are added. Since it's in the ingredients, strictly speaking the same thing should already be in there, and Ryuji thought it might not need adding, but decides it really does taste better with it.

The rice is 200 g. Ryuji muses that Yoshinoya's might be 250 g. The bowl is the same type as Yoshinoya's, bought by the staff. For some dishes the rice is shaped and mounded loosely, but this time it's served normally.

After one bite, Ryuji and the staff both say it's Yoshinoya itself. Ryuji says, "It matches the Yoshinoya in my memory perfectly," and rates the reproduction at about 99%. Ryuji also says they'd like to come up with a clever comment but can only say "It's Yoshinoya." The smell is the same as Yoshinoya's too. While it was simmering, Ryuji had also mentioned that Yoshinoya's smell is intense, and that after eating it you worry about your breath until night.

The small differences Ryuji points out are that the meat used may be slightly better than Yoshinoya's, and the degree of shredding. The meat could have been even more shredded. Even so, Ryuji says you might not be able to tell much in a blind tasting. Ryuji's assessment is that if you could source Yoshinoya-style meat, you could get even closer.

As the keys to the flavor, Ryuji names the white wine, the right amount of garlic, and the pepper, and praises how the ginger flavor has been reproduced too. Joking that it's so faithful they're not sure it's even practical, Ryuji says they think the sauce came out perfect.

Another staff member is also surprised, saying you can tell it's Yoshinoya the moment it's in your mouth. Another comment is that it's certainly delicious, but even more than that, the "Yoshinoya-ness" wins out.

When the staff say, "Isn't this a perfect recreation, the best in the history of the Generic series?", Ryuji agrees it may be a perfect recreation. Ryuji then sums it up as "not so much my best work as my most faithful recreation." Ryuji adds that it might have been nice to have a bit more of their own personality in it. Saying that if you follow the recipe you should feel like you've been to Yoshinoya, Ryuji encourages viewers to try it.

At the end, the staff point out that it's rare for Ryuji to finish a whole bowl of Yoshinoya gyudon. Ryuji mentions that lately there's no longer a restaurant near their home.