A Japanese beef bowl rebuilt over cauliflower rice

Gyudon is Japanese comfort food at its plainest: thin beef simmered in a sweet savory sauce, spooned over rice. This version keeps everything that makes it good and serves the beef over cauliflower rice, with coconut aminos standing in for the soy. It is a 30-minute bowl, one of the easier ways to eat something that feels like real comfort while eating this way long term.

The bowl carries real nourishment under the comfort. Beef is a strong source of iron and zinc, which support healthy red blood cells and immune function, and it supplies vitamin B12, involved in energy and nerve health. The cauliflower rice adds vitamin C and fiber, the first involved in tissue repair and the second in steady digestion, so the dish lands lighter than the original while still satisfying.

When you cook beef this way, take a moment of thanks for the animal that fed you, and source it as well as your budget allows. Thinly sliced beef cooks fast, so have the cauliflower rice ready and the table set before you start. Eating the bowl warm, the moment it is done, is part of the pleasure.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp coconut aminos
• 2 Tbsp coconut aminos or apple cider vinegar (in place of rice wine vinegar)
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (omit the white pepper)
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 lb thinly sliced beef
• 4 cups cauliflower rice
• 2 green onions
• (omit the 4 egg yolks, or see the note below for reintroduction)

Swaps made: omitted the white pepper, a seed-spice excluded on AIP, and omitted the raw egg-yolk topping. The rice wine vinegar is replaced with extra coconut aminos or a little apple cider vinegar to keep the tang without the alcohol-derived vinegar. Coconut aminos and AIP vinegars are permitted. Honey is AIP-friendly as a whole-food sweetener.

Method

• Saute the sliced onion in the coconut oil over high heat about 4 minutes, until soft and starting to color.
• Add the chicken broth, both measures of coconut aminos (or the aminos plus apple cider vinegar), the honey, garlic, sea salt, and ground ginger. Bring to a boil, then reduce by about half, roughly 5 minutes.
• Add the thinly sliced beef and simmer until the liquid has mostly cooked down and the beef is done, about 4 minutes.
• Serve over cauliflower rice and finish with sliced green onion.

Reintroduction note

The traditional gyudon topping is a raw egg yolk stirred into the hot bowl. Egg yolk is not AIP Core, but it is often one of the earlier, gentler reintroductions. Once you have successfully reintroduced egg yolk and are out of strict elimination, a fresh yolk on top brings the dish closer to the original. Keep it off the Core version.

*Adapted from a-clean-plate*