How I Recreated This Recipe
You might be wondering why I chose to recreate Yoshinoya’s Negi Shio Butadon (ねぎ塩豚丼) instead of their famous gyudon. While Yoshinoya is indeed well known for their gyudon, I’ve already developed a copycat recipe for Sukiya’s version.
There are differences if you eat it in the restaurant, but if I were to make a copycat recipe, they will be similar. So, I decided to tackle something different – their popular Negi Shio Buta Don.
I headed to Yoshinoya for taste-testing and analysis to create this recipe. It had been a while since my last visit, and this time, I approached the meal with a more analytical mindset.
Here’s what I discovered:
- Layered Complexity: What initially seemed like a simple dish revealed itself to be more complex than I’d thought, with distinct flavor layers that would need to be recreated separately.
- Sauce Details: The salt-based sauce has a subtle citrus flavor and a generous amount of coarse black pepper you can literally see. It’s a bit thick, which makes me think it probably needs to be thickened with a slurry.
- Cooking Method: It looks like the pork was stewed rather than grilled, probably using the same technique to gyudon preparation.
- Meat Selection: The pork was tender, which suggests it was cut with more fat. It’s not exactly pork belly, but belly might work well for home recreation.
- Recipe Change: I’ve noticed they’ve switched from green onions to white onions as a topping.
- Fast Food Elements: It’s got that classic fast food “junky” flavor that you can’t miss. I’m guessing I should be using flavor enhancers like dashi granules and chicken bouillon powder to get that taste.
- Onion Preparation: The onions are consistently soft throughout, with no crunchy pieces remaining – a detail that seems crucial to the overall texture.
These observations from my recent visit have given me a solid foundation for developing a copycat version of this popular dish.
Wanna know how I did it? Keep reading the next section!
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to recreate Yoshinoya’s Negi Shio Butadon at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
This section aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the cooking steps and techniques with visuals. It also includes more in-depth tips and tricks and explains why I do what I do.
First, get your vegetables ready. Slice the Japanese leek diagonally into thin pieces and cut the onions into wedges. Soak them both in cold water separately.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the pork and blanch it for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the meat changes color completely.
Drain the pork in a colander and set it aside.
I used thinly sliced pork belly, but you can also make this with other cuts of pork. Just make sure the cut is thinly sliced and high in fat.
Heat a little bit of oil in a big frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the drained onion wedges and a pinch of salt.
Cook it all slowly until the onions are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. The salt helps draw out moisture and speeds up the softening process.
Once the onions are soft, add water, dashi granules, soy sauce, mirin, and grated ginger to the pan.
You might notice that my version looks a bit darker than Yoshinoya’s original, and it’s because of one simple ingredient: I used dark soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu). If you’re going for that signature pale color, try using light soy sauce (usukuchi shoyu).
Just keep in mind that light soy sauce is actually more salty, so when you make this substitution, I recommend using about 20% less than what my recipe calls for to maintain the right balance.
Give it a stir to mix everything together, then add the blanched pork.
Keep the heat medium-low and stir occasionally as it cooks, letting the majority of the liquid evaporate.
While the pork mixture is cooking, mix together all the sauce ingredients except the slurry in another saucepan. Cook over low-medium heat for 1-2 minutes, until the diced onion softens a bit.
Add the slurry while stirring constantly—this will help prevent lumps from forming. When the sauce gets thickened, take it off the heat.
Place a portion of hot steamed rice in each serving bowl. Layer the pork and onion mixture over the rice.
Pour the thickened sauce over the pork.
Top with sesame seeds and the drained leeks, which should be squeezed to rid them of any excess moisture.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Copycat Recipes
- Bikkuri Donkey’s Hamburger Steak
- Lawson’s Devil’s Onigiri
- Saizeriya Milano Doria
- Torikizoku’s Grilled Grated Yam
Hungry for more? Explore my copycat recipe collection to find your next favorite dishes!
Yoshinoya’s Pork Rice Bowl Copycat (Negi Shio Butadon)
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Ingredients
Japanese leek (naganegi) topping (alternatively you can use thinly sliced green onions instead)- ¼ onion
- 300 g thinly sliced pork belly or other pork with good amount of fat
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 200 ml water
- 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp grated ginger root or ginger paste
- ¼ tsp dashi granules
- 2 ptns cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- toasted white sesame seeds topping
Shiodare Sauce
- ⅛ onion finely diced
- 4 tbsp water
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper coarse
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp Chinese-style chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp water to make slurry
- 1 tsp potato starch (katakuriko) to make slurry
Instructions
- Start boiling a large pot of water. While you wait, thinly slice the white part of a Japanese leek (naganegi) and place it in a bowl of cold water. The amount depends on how much you want to use as a topping so I left out the measurement here.
- Cut ¼ onion into wedges and place it in a separate bowl of cold water.
- Once your pot of water is boiling, add 300 g thinly sliced pork belly. Boil for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the meat has changed color completely, then drain and set aside.
- Heat a frying pan over medium-low heat and add 1 tsp cooking oil. Drain the onion wedges from earlier and add them to the pan with 1 pinch salt. Gently fry until soft and translucent.
- Once the onions are cooked through, add 200 ml water, 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp grated ginger root and ¼ tsp dashi granules to the pan and mix well.
- Add the drained pork, mix and simmer until the liquid has almost completely gone.
Sauce
- In a separate smaller pot, add ⅛ onion (finely diced) along with 4 tbsp water, ¼ tsp ground black pepper, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, ½ tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp Chinese-style chicken bouillon powder, 1 tsp honey and 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil. Cook over medium-low for 1-2 minutes or until the onion is slightly softened.
- Take a small bowl and mix together 1 tbsp water and 1 tsp potato starch (katakuriko) to make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the pot and stir over the low heat until slightly thickened and glossy, then remove from the heat.
Assembly
- Divide 2 ptns cooked Japanese short-grain rice between serving bowls and place the pork and onions on top.
- Pour the sauce over the top, then squeeze out the soaked Japanese leeks and place them in the center. Sprinkle with toasted white sesame seeds and enjoy!
The post Yoshinoya Copycat Pork Rice Bowl (Negi Shio Butadon) appeared first on Sudachi.
