It is getting really cold here in Portland, Oregon these days.  When it gets colder, I often cook hot pot at home.  One of my family’s favorites is beef hot pot called Sukiyaki (Sukiyaki, すき焼き).  It is really easy to make once you have the key ingredients ready.  Sukiyaki is a very popular hot pot in Japan. We often cook Sukiyaki on top of a portable stove top in a special Sukiyaki cast iron pot.  It is fun to cook Sukiyaki at gatherings as we enjoy talking to each other while we eat.  If you don’t have the cast iron type pot and portable stove top, it’s ok. You can use a large casserole pan and cook it at your stop top.

Below is Sukiyaki recipe that my mom has been using for many years! 🙂

Key ingredients you will need (For Approximately 4 -5 people):

400g  thinly sliced beef (Gyuniku, 牛肉)- Preferably beef with a lot of fat (ex. Kobe Beef, Angus Beef)

2 bunch green onions-cut into about 2-3 inch long (Preferably, Tokyo Negi, ねぎ which is a thicker scallion)

4-5  Napa cabbage leaves, sliced (Hakusai, 白菜)

1 cube firm tofu(Tofu, とうふ), cut into 1-inch pieces

4 ounces yam noodles (Shirataki, しらたき), drained and washed

6-8 Shiitake mashrooms (Shiitake, しいたけ)

1 bunch Enoki mushrooms (Enoki, えのき)

2 bunches chrysanthemum leaves(Shungiku,春菊 ), or water cress

Sauce Mix:

1/2 cup Soy Sauce (Shoyu, 醤油)

1/2 cup Mirin (Japanese rice wine)(Mirin,みりん)

3 tablespoon Sugar (Satou, 砂糖)

3 tablespoon Cooking Sake (Sake,酒 )

Directions:

1. Preheat your Sukiyaki pan. Once heated, add fat pieces of beef to oil the pan.

2. Place green onion (Scallion) first on the bottom and place 1/2 of the beef on top of the green onion.

3. Add Sauce Mix and let it boil.－At this point, if you would like, once the beef is cooked, you can start eating your beef.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients, one by one at each section:Napa Cabbage, Tofu, Shirataki, Shiitake, Enoki Mashrooms, and remaining beef.

6. Let the ingredients cook with medium heat, and add chrysanthemum leaves at the end.

7. Once leaves are cooked, it is ready to be served. Add more soy sauce if you prefer more salty flavor.

We typically eat Sukiyaki by dipping into a lightly beaten raw egg in a serving bowl. You don’t need to dip them into it if you are not used to eating raw eggs.

What I really like about cooking Sukiyaki is that this dish is very versatile in that as long as you have the key ingredient, which is Beef, you can add any vegetables you like, such as celery, carrots, and broccoli, etc…You can also add Rice Cake (Mochi, お餅) or Noodle (Udon, うどん) if you would like to add more volume to the dish.

You can also reference the following video for cooking your Sukiyaki.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulZ2_dZeWn8