Hayashi Rice (ハヤシライス)

• servings: 2
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

200 g beef shoulder, thinly sliced and cut into bite sized (but still a little big) squares - (Putting the beef in the freezer for an hour can help you get thinner slices without tearing)

½ white onion, roughly sliced (can sub red or sweet as needed)

5 mushrooms, sliced (white, button, etc)

1 clove garlic, minced

300 ml red wine (cabernet sauvignon is good, or personal preference)

150 ml beef stock (or Japanese ‘beef consomme’)

70 ml milk

2 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp flour

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp honey

Freshly cracked black pepper

High heat neutral oil (avocado, canola, etc)

Directions

Salt both sides of the beef and allow it to rest on a plate for a few minutes, or until moisture has visibly been drawn to the surface of the beef. Pat down each side with a paper towel to remove this moisture.

In a wide pan, heat the oil over medium-high and add in the beef. Allow it to sear nicely on the first side before flipping each piece over. Once the other side has changed color, only after a bit of cooking, remove the beef from the pan and reserve for later.

Keep the pan at medium height, adding a little extra oil as needed, then add the sliced onions. Use the water they release to scrape off the browned fond on the bottom of the pan. Cook the onion slices until they are translucent on the edges and beginning to brown.

Add the sliced mushrooms into the pan and do the same thing. Cook until they are starting to brown nicely.

Add the minced garlic and cook it briefly, stirring often until aromatic, careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the flour and butter to the pan and stir to combine everything. Allow the butter to melt and the flour has cooked.

Add in all the wine and use it to scrape off any fond in the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook it over medium heat until the wine has reduced and coats the back of a spoon, about 5-10 minutes.

Scoot the mixture to one side of the pan, then add the ketchup and worcestershire sauce to the other side of the pan, still over medium heat. Allow them to bubble and reduce a little bit before adding in the beef slices again along with any accumulated juices. Combine everything in the pan.

Add in the beef broth, milk, and honey. Stir to combine and reduce everything over medium heat until it’s reached the desired consistency (know that it will thicken more as it cools). This is typically thick enough to coat a spoon but still a little bit loose, like Japanese curry if you’ve had that. Taste for seasoning and add salt and honey as preferred.

Serve hot with rice and black pepper.

Notes

Hayashi Rice is one of many foods in Japan classified as “western cooking” (洋食), which is a type of Japanese dish with Western influences. It’s a bit of a misnomer in that much of this food is completely unknown to the west, so it’s really better described as Japanese-Western fusion food within Japan. This is a fairly luxurious and rich dish, thinly sliced beef in a red wine reduction, served with rice. You can buy premade hayashi rice blocks (like Japanese curry blocks) in Asian grocery stores, but this homemade version tastes more elevated. This dish is a great example of a one pot dish with good fundamentals and flavors. Serves 2 as written, but I recommend at least doubling it.