Beef Sukiyaki
Beef Sukiyaki (Traditional Japanese Hot Pot)
Serves: 4
Sukiyaki is a traditional Japanese hot pot dish that is considered a special meal in Japan. When I was young and still living in Japan, we visited my grandparents in Osaka every New Year’s and Obon (a traditional Japanese Buddhist holiday). Every time we were there, my uncle would bring high-quality Wagyu beef which he bought from a special butcher and cooked this hot pot dish in front of us. I enjoyed watching and learned how to make this special sukiyaki as a young child. Now, I often make sukiyaki, especially when I am hosting guests at home. It is super easy to make so I hope you try it at your home, too!
Ingredients:
1 pound high quality ribeye beef thinly sliced (look for sukiyaki cut in Japanese grocery store)
½ to 1/4 of cabbage or Chinese cabbage or both
Any type of Asian mushrooms such as shiitake, enoki, shimeji (beech mushroom), or hiratake (oyster mushroom)
1 bunch of green onion
½ medium firm tofu
1 bag of Konjac noodles
3 TBS of Sugar
2 TBS mirin (sweet rice wine)
2 TBS sake (rice wine)
4 TBS soy sauce
Chili sauce for flavor
1 TBS of oil
Note: Options to add other vegetables like mizuna (Japanese mustard greens), chrysanthemum greens, thinly sliced onions, carrots, etc.
Directions:
1. Wash all vegetables (cabbages, mushrooms, green onions, etc.), tofu, Konjac noodles. Cut them to one bite size and drain them well.
2. Start heating a large sauté pan or shallow pot with a small portion of cooking oil. First, cook beef and flavor it with sugar, mirin, sake, and soy sauce. (Tip: When it comes to seasoning, it is important to add sweet components first, namely sugar and then mirin and sake and finally soy sauce at the very end. If you add soy sauce first, it will make it difficult to incorporate the sweet flavors into the dish, meaning that you will need to add lots of sugar to balance the overall sweetness level.)
3. Next, add all vegetables, tofu, and Konjak noodles neatly without mixing the different ingredients for presentation purposes. Season them as mentioned in the order of sugar, mirin, sake, and soy sauce. Place a lid over and simmer until all vegetables are cooked. While you are simmering, stir the ingredients to ensure the sauce is evenly incorporated.
4. Simultaneously, start boiling water to make poached eggs. Add a dash of vinegar in the boiling water before adding the eggs. Lower the heat and bring the water to a simmer and gently cook one egg at a time. Cook only for about 3 minutes to enjoy the runny yolk when you eat.
5. Place the cooked sukiyaki on the table and enjoy it family-style with freshly cooked rice!
