← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 250 g thinly sliced beef (ribeye or sukiyaki slices), cut into 5 cm pieces
• 550 g waxy or all-purpose potatoes, peeled, cut into large chunks
• 1 Onion, cut into wedges
• 1 Carrot, cut into chunks
• 200 g Shirataki (konjac) noodles, rinsed, parboiled 1 min and cut shorter (optional)
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 500 ml Dashi powder or stock
• 3 tbsp Sake
• 3 tbsp Mirin
• 1½ tbsp Sugar
• 4 tbsp Soy sauce
• 80 g green beans or snow peas, blanched and cut into 4 cm lengths

Method

1. Soak the potato chunks in water for a few minutes to rinse off surface starch, then drain.
2. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Fry the onion for 2 min, add the beef and cook until it just changes colour.
3. Add the potatoes, carrot and shirataki and toss for 1 minute to coat in the oil.
4. Pour in the dashi and bring to the boil, skimming off any foam. Add the sake, mirin and sugar, cover with a drop lid (or a circle of baking paper resting on the food) and simmer for 5 min.
5. Add the soy sauce and keep simmering under the drop lid for 12–15 min, until the potatoes are tender to the centre when pierced with a skewer and the liquid has reduced by about a third.
6. Turn off the heat and leave it to sit for 10 min so the potatoes absorb the broth. Scatter over the green beans and serve in bowls with rice.

Tips

• Nikujaga tastes even better the next day once the flavours soak in. In eastern Japan pork is often used instead of beef.
• Avoid stirring once the potatoes soften, or they break up; shake the pot gently instead. Dashi contains fish.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Just One Cookbook RecipeTin Japan