Japanese Sukiyaki

Happy 19th birthday Aaron! About a week ago, Aaron left for Germany to serve a 2-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so we celebrated his birthday a little early. Aaron’s dinner request was Japanese Sukiyaki and Coconut Cream Pie Bars (pictured below).

Sukiyaki is a Japanese hot pot, served in the pot over a portable gas burner at the dinner table. Diners use chop sticks to take items out of the pot onto a bed of rice. Dipping hot items from the broth in raw eggs is traditional, but we didn’t want to risk salmonella with Aaron taking an international flight the next day.

Sukiyaki broth is a slightly sweetened soy broth. Thinly sliced beef and various vegetables, noodles, and tofu simmer in the broth until cooked through.

Here’s a photo from another time when we used slightly different vegetables:

RECIPE:

Japanese Sukiyaki

Servings: 4
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½ cup mirin
½ cup soy sauce
2 Tbs sake or white wine
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs oil
2 lb very thinly sliced beef
About 4 cups dashi or beef stock
1 cup mushrooms (enoki, shitake, baby bella, white button, etc), cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups coarsely chopped Napa cabbage, bok choy, and/or fresh spinach
1 onion sliced
1 block of firm tofu, cubed
4 oz mung bean, shirataki, or rice noodles
4 green onions, thinly sliced (divided)
Steamed rice

In a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, stir together mirin, soy sauce, sake, and brown sugar. Microwave for 60 seconds, or until hot. Stir to dissolve sugar. Set aside.

Chop vegetables; set aside. Soak noodles in water for 10 minutes; drain and set aside.

In a pot that fits over your single-burner tabletop stove, heat oil. Add half of the sliced green onions to the pot. Add the sliced beef and sear beef for 10 seconds. Drizzle with about 2 Tbs of reserved sauce. Cook until beef just begins to brown. Remove beef and set aside. (If you are cooking a large amount of meat, sear beef in batches.)

Add 4 cups stock and remaining sukiyaki sauce to the pot. Bring to boiling point. Arrange mushrooms, cabbage, tofu, noodles, and cooked beef in sections to the pot. Add additional stock to pot if necessary to just below level of vegetables. Return to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Transfer sukiyaki pot to the tabletop burner. Adjust heat on burner to maintain a very low simmer.

Remove cover and sprinkle with remaining green onions. Serve with hot steamed rice.

NOTES:

Equipment needed: portable butane single burner stove and serving pot
Sukiyaki is traditionally dipped into raw beaten egg as it is taken out of the pot. Due to salmonella concerns, we usually skip this.
Add any other quick-cooking vegetables that your family enjoys

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