This hearty Japanese rice bowl features soboro (finely ground meat simmered in soy sauce, dashi, and sake) served over rice to make a satisfying meal. Long before rice bowls were popular in the U.S., cookbook author and Japanese food expert Elizabeth Andoh taught readers how to make donburi — a casual dish of meat and vegetables served over rice — as a complete meal. This version features ground beef, peas, and fresh ginger spooned over steamed rice. To simplify the recipe, Andoh suggests using water instead of dashi.

Ingredients

• 1 pound 90% lean ground beef
• 1/3 cup sake
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup dashi or water
• 1 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup frozen english peas, thawed
• 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 5 cups hot cooked rice
• 2 tablespoon beni shoga (japanese pickled ginger) or 1 large tomato, sliced

Directions

1. Stir together ground beef, sake, soy sauce, dashi, and sugar in a small Dutch oven or medium-size, heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high, stirring often to break up large lumps of beef, 5 minutes. Stir in peas and ginger; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is mostly evaporated and beef is no longer pink but is still moist, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Divide rice evenly among 4 large bowls. Spoon 1/2 cup beef mixture over each. Garnish with pickled ginger.