1.
beef that has been ground into small pieces; ground/minced beef
A standard grocery-store cut of beef that has been mechanically ground. Used in hamburgers, meatballs, meat sauce, tacos, stuffed peppers, and many other home-cooked dishes. Sold in trays, usually labeled with the fat percentage.
牛ひき肉を買う。
To buy ground beef.
牛ひき肉を炒めてから、玉ねぎを加えてください。
First stir-fry the ground beef, then add the onion.
ハンバーグを作るときは、牛ひき肉と豚ひき肉を混ぜるのがおすすめです。
When making hamburg steaks, mixing ground beef with ground pork is recommended.
今日の夕食は、牛ひき肉とトマトを煮込んだミートソースのスパゲッティだった。
Tonight's dinner was spaghetti with a meat sauce made by simmering ground beef and tomatoes.
Composed of 牛 (cow, beef) + 挽き肉 (ground meat, from the verb 挽く "to grind, mince"). The 挽 kanji is very often written in hiragana, so both 牛ひき肉 and 牛挽き肉 are acceptable; supermarket packaging usually uses the hiragana form.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 牛ひき肉を炒める: to stir-fry ground beef
- 牛ひき肉を使う: to use ground beef (in a recipe)
- 牛ひき肉100グラム: 100 grams of ground beef
- 牛ひき肉と豚ひき肉の合いびき: a mix of ground beef and ground pork
RELATED FOOD TERMS:
- 豚ひき肉: ground pork
- 鶏ひき肉: ground chicken
- 合いびき肉: a mixture of ground beef and pork (very common in Japanese home cooking)
- ハンバーグ: hamburg steak (Japanese-style patty)
- ミートボール: meatball
- ミートソース: meat sauce
- そぼろ: crumbly seasoned ground meat served over rice
- タコライス: taco rice (Okinawan dish using ground beef)
CULTURAL NOTE:
In Japan, the most common choice for home cooking is actually 合いびき肉 — a beef-pork mix — which is considered ideal for hamburg steaks and meat sauce. Pure 牛ひき肉 is more often chosen for Western-style dishes like tacos, chili, and shepherd's pie. Supermarket prices per 100 grams are typically higher for beef than for pork or chicken.