Sukiyaki: The Ultimate Japanese Hot Pot Experience

Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish that is prepared and served in the nabemono (hot pot) style. It typically consists of thinly sliced beef, tofu, and vegetables such as cabbage, mushrooms, and onions. The ingredients are cooked in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Sukiyaki is usually served as a winter dish and is commonly found at Japanese year-end parties. It is cooked and served tableside, making it perfect for entertaining as it requires minimal time in the kitchen and allows guests to cook their food to their preferred level of doneness.

Sukiyaki is a Japanese winter dish

The name "sukiyaki" comes from the word "suki", meaning spade, and "yaki", the verb "to grill". This is because, during the Edo period, farmers used a spade to cook things like fish and tofu. However, sukiyaki only became a traditional Japanese dish during the Meiji era. Another theory for the origin of the name is that it comes from the word "sukimi", meaning "thinly sliced meat".

There are two main styles of preparing sukiyaki: the Kanto style and the Kansai style. In the Kanto style, a mixture of sake, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and dashi is heated in a pot, and then the meat, vegetables, and other ingredients are added and simmered together. The Kansai style involves heating the meat in the pot first and then adding the other ingredients and seasonings once the meat is almost cooked.

Beef is the primary ingredient in today's sukiyaki, but in certain parts of Japan, such as Hokkaido and Niigata, pork was also traditionally used. Other popular ingredients include tofu, negi (a type of scallion), leafy vegetables like Chinese cabbage, mushrooms such as shiitake and enokitake, and glass noodles made from konnyaku or corm.

Sukiyaki is a communal dish, with diners sharing from the same hot pot and cooking their food to their preferred level of doneness. It is a delicious and fun way to enjoy a variety of ingredients and is a unique part of Japanese cuisine.

It is cooked tableside and eaten around New Year

Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish that is often eaten around New Year. It is cooked and served in the nabemono (hot pot) style. The dish is prepared tableside, making it perfect for entertaining as it requires minimal time in the kitchen and allows guests to cook their food to their preferred level of doneness. Sukiyaki is a winter dish, commonly found at Japanese year-end parties called bōnenkai.

To cook sukiyaki the traditional way, you will need a butane burner or electric hot plate. The dish is typically made with thinly sliced beef, tofu, and a variety of vegetables, including cabbage, mushrooms, and onions. The ingredients are cooked in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. The ingredients are then usually dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs before being eaten. The meat in sukiyaki is meant to be fully cooked, either by grilling it first or allowing it to boil in the sauce.

The predecessor to sukiyaki was invented towards the end of the Meiji Era (1868-1912). During this time, Japan opened its ports to foreign merchants, and the culture of eating meat and new cooking styles were introduced. Beef, milk, meat, and eggs became widely used, and sukiyaki was a popular way to serve them. Sukiyaki became prominent in US Japanese restaurants by the 1930s.

The ingredients are cooked in a shallow iron pot

Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish that is prepared and served in the nabemono (hot pot) style. The ingredients are cooked in a shallow iron pot, slowly simmered at the table. The pot is usually heated using a portable gas stove. However, it can also be cooked on a stove top using a skillet or frying pan.

The ingredients are cooked in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin, with the option of adding sake or dashi. The beef is usually grilled or seared first, and then the remaining ingredients are added and simmered. The beef can be cooked directly on the greased pot or with a little bit of the sukiyaki sauce. The beef is cooked until it is about 80% done, and then sugar is sprinkled over it, followed by soy sauce to balance the flavour.

The vegetables cooked along with the beef include leafy vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, napa cabbage, chrysanthemum leaves, negi (a type of scallion), onions, carrots, and gobo (burdock root). Mushrooms such as shiitake, enoki, shimeji, maitake, and portabello are also added. Tofu, either grilled or regular, is another important ingredient.

Noodles like udon, shirataki, or mochi (rice cakes) are sometimes added, usually at the end, to soak up the broth. The ingredients are then dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs and then eaten.

It is served with a beaten raw egg for dipping

Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish that is served in the nabemono (hot pot) style. It is typically made with thinly sliced beef, tofu, and vegetables such as cabbage, mushrooms, and onions. The ingredients are cooked in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Sukiyaki is usually served as a winter dish and is commonly found at Japanese year-end parties called bōnenkai.

One of the unique aspects of sukiyaki is that it is often served with a beaten raw egg for dipping. The raw egg adds a creamy and rich texture to the dish, enhancing its flavour. The process of dipping the hot cooked ingredients in the raw egg also partially cooks the egg, creating a delicious and creamy sauce. This practice of eating sukiyaki with a raw egg may seem unusual to those unfamiliar with Japanese cuisine, but it has been a part of the culture for generations.

When serving sukiyaki with a raw egg, it is important to use fresh, high-quality eggs to ensure the best flavour and maintain food safety standards. Each diner can have their own small bowl or a communal bowl can be used for dipping. The process of indulging in sukiyaki with a raw egg involves dipping a piece of the cooked beef, tofu, or vegetables into the raw egg before eating. This allows the creamy yolk to coat the ingredients, adding a rich and indulgent dimension to the dish.

While sukiyaki is traditionally served with a raw egg, some people may be hesitant to consume raw eggs. In such cases, it is perfectly acceptable to enjoy the dish without the egg or to use a raw egg substitute. The sweet and savoury broth of sukiyaki is delicious on its own, and the addition of the raw egg is simply a way to elevate the dish further.

The dish became popular in the Meiji era

Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish that is prepared and served in the nabemono (hot pot) style. It consists of thinly sliced meat, usually beef, cooked alongside vegetables and other ingredients in a shallow iron pot. The dish is seasoned with soy sauce, sugar, and mirin, and the ingredients are often dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs after being cooked. Sukiyaki is typically served as a winter dish and is commonly found at Japanese year-end parties called bōnenkai.

Additionally, during the Meiji era, there was a push to modernise and strengthen the country. Proponents of modernisation, like Fukuzawa Yukichi, advocated for the adoption of Western dietary habits, including the consumption of meat and dairy products. Emperor Meiji, the sole leader of the country after the abolition of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, played a significant role in promoting the Western diet by eating meat in public. This helped to further spread the popularity of dishes like sukiyaki.

The Meiji era also saw the combination of Kansai's sukiyaki and Kanto's gyu-nabe styles, resulting in a new Kanto-style sukiyaki. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 led to the destruction of many gyu-nabe restaurants, and people from the Kanto region temporarily relocated to Kansai. They became accustomed to the Kansai style of sukiyaki and brought it back with them to Kanto, where it gained popularity.

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