Gyu-don (Beef Bowls)
Gyu-don, the beef bowl.
"Gyu-don" is something you need to try in Japan unless you are a vegetarian.
It is a bowl of rice ("don", short for donburi, meaning bowl of rice.) topped with simmered beef ("gyu") and onion in a slightly sweet sauce. It's not too sweet, just about right.
This is common and casual food in Japan. So, the price is reasonable. Ordering a small bowl should cost below ¥400 in many chain restaurants such as, Yoshino-ya, Matsu-ya, Suki-ya, etc.
Beni-shoga.
This is pickled ginger, made with thin strips of ginger pickled in pickling solution. Oppose to one you'll see in sushi restaurants, this is not sweet type which should really get along with beef bowl flavoring.
Shichimi (Nanairo).
"Shichimi" is Japanese chilli seasoning consists of coarsely ground red chili pepper, ground Japanese pepper, roasted orange peel, black sesame seed, white sesame seed, hemp seed, and ground ginger. Sometimes referred as "nanairo" to avoid confusion with "ichimi" which pronunciation is very similar to "shichimi". ("Ichimi" is red chili pepper seasoning.)
2 on top of gyu-don.
How I recommend to eat is:
First, eat without beni-shoga and nanairo seasoning.
After a couple of bites, put either beni or nanairo.
Before you finish, put the other one.
This way, you could enjoy 3 steps of taste.
It is also, totally OK to put them all in once.
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