← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 120 ml Sake
• 120 ml Mirin
• 120 ml Soy sauce
• 4 tbsp Sugar
• 500 g well-marbled beef (ribeye or sirloin), sliced paper-thin
• 300 g Napa (Chinese) cabbage, cut into large pieces
• 1 leek or Japanese negi, cut diagonally into 2 cm slices
• 8 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 300 g firm tofu, cut into large cubes
• 200 g Shirataki (konjac) noodles
• 100 g shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) or spinach (optional)
• 1 tbsp beef fat or neutral oil
• 120 ml water, to top up
• 4 very fresh eggs, for dipping (optional)

Method

1. For the warishita, bring the sake and mirin to the boil for 30 seconds, then stir in the soy and sugar until dissolved. Take off the heat.
2. Boil the shirataki for 2 min, drain and cut into shorter lengths. Arrange the cabbage, leek, shiitake, tofu, shirataki and greens on a platter.
3. Heat a cast-iron pan or shallow hot pot on a tabletop burner or the stove over medium-high heat and melt the fat. Brown a few slices of beef for 1 minute, then pour a little warishita over them and enjoy that first sweet, sizzling bite.
4. Arrange the vegetables, tofu and shirataki in sections in the pan. Pour in warishita to about 1 cm deep and simmer for 5–7 min, until the cabbage wilts and the leek softens.
5. Lay in more beef slices and cook for 1–2 min, just until they lose their pink.
6. Beat an egg in each diner’s bowl. Everyone lifts food from the pot and dips it in the egg. Keep adding beef, vegetables, sauce and a splash of water as the broth reduces.

Tips

• Dipping in raw egg is traditional; use very fresh (ideally pasteurised) eggs and skip it for pregnant guests, small children or anyone vulnerable.
• Ask the butcher to slice the beef thinly, or firm it in the freezer for 30 min and slice it yourself. Contains soy and wheat.

Sources

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

Just One Cookbook RecipeTin Japan Japanese Cooking 101