← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 250 g very thinly sliced beef (ribeye or sirloin)
• ½ Onion, sliced
• 1 Japanese long onion or thin leek, sliced on the diagonal
• 4 Shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, halved
• 150 g medium-firm tofu, cut into 6 pieces
• 100 g Shirataki (konjac) noodles, rinsed and cut shorter (optional)
• 1 handful shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) or spinach
• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp Sake
• 3 tbsp Mirin
• 3 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 120 ml Dashi powder or stock
• 2 bowls of hot cooked Japanese short-grain rice
• 2 very fresh egg yolks (or soft-poached eggs) (optional)
• pickled red ginger, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Stir the sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and dashi together until the sugar dissolves.
2. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion and leek for 2–3 min until they soften and pick up a little colour.
3. Pour in the sauce and add the shiitake, tofu and shirataki in their own little piles. Simmer for 5 min, spooning the sauce over the tofu.
4. Lay in the beef, separating the slices, and cook for 1–2 min until it just loses its pink. Add the greens for the final 30 seconds so they only wilt.
5. Divide the rice between bowls, spoon over some sauce, then arrange the beef, tofu and vegetables on top. Add an egg yolk to each bowl and pickled ginger if you like.

Tips

• Raw yolk is traditional with sukiyaki; use pasteurised eggs or a soft-poached egg for anyone pregnant, very young or elderly.
• Freeze the beef for 30 minutes first if you are slicing it yourself: it cuts paper-thin much more easily.

Sources

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

Just One Cookbook Japanese Cooking 101