Mega Beef Bowl (Persona 4), made like gyudon

Separate the heads from the niboshi bodies; soak the fish in a quart of water.

Combine several quarts of water with bonito flakes, dried shiitake and kombu; add the niboshi and their soaking water.

Bring to a boil, then simmer a couple of minutes until the flavors have infused. Extra dashi keeps up to a couple of months in the freezer once cooled.

Rinse short grain rice to remove excess starch, fill the rice cooker with water to the first joint of the pointer finger above the rice, and cook.

Peel and slice the onions into thin rounds, not super thin, so they keep some texture.

Cut each pack of thinly sliced ribeye in half, not too small or it disintegrates.

In a very large saucepan combine dashi, the 'glug of meat' (sic), a cup of soy sauce and granulated sugar; bring to a boil.

Add onions a handful at a time for a head start, then a batch of beef; stir constantly until no pink remains. Lift beef and onions into a bowl, keeping the sauce, and repeat with the next batch, about 30 minutes in all.

Strain the concentrated, cloudy cooking liquid through cheesecloth to remove the sediment.

Cook a sunny side up egg in a little butter in a small saucepan.

Fill a huge bowl with about two rice cookers' worth of rice, pile on all the beef and onions, top with the egg.

Pour the strained cooking liquid back over the bowl.