Sukiyaki (すき焼き) is a fairly simple and popular dish in Japan. It is made of sliced meat, vegetables, mushrooms, udon and various other ingredients that the person wants. Sukiyaki is usually made in a nabemono, an iron pot used to make stews and keep it warm in winter.
Sukiyaki is popular in winter, especially during the year-end parties called Bonenkai. The recipe usually uses thinly sliced beef, but it is common to use pork, especially in the regions of Hokkaidō and Niigata. The most popular ingredients in a sukiyaki are tofu, negi (cebolinha), cabbage, and shiitake mushrooms.
The way sukiyaki is served in a nabemono aims at fostering camaraderie and also provides the freedom for the person to choose the quantity and what to put in their bowl. Some restaurants even permitem that visitors cook their own dish.
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Origin of Sukiyaki
It is believed that sukiyaki originated in the Meiji Era around 1868 with the opening of Japan to foreigners. Sukiyaki emerged thanks to the popularization of beef and butter that occurred at that time with the arrival of American and European culinary trends.
The name sukiyaki (鋤焼き) comes from the word 鋤 (suki) which means shovel or plow, and the word 焼き (yaki) which refers to the act of frying, grilling, or cooking. But why shovel? In the Edo Period (1603-1868), farmers used shovels to grill fish and tofu. Another theory is that the name sukiyaki comes from the word 剥き身 (sukimi) which means thin slices of meat.
sukiyaki recipe
Almost any vegetable or leaf can be used in creating the recipe. So we recommend that you don't stick only to one recipe, and feel free to modify and cook in whatever way you like. Currently, recipes are not limited to beef or pork; it is common to even use chicken or fish.
There are 2 ways to prepare sukiyaki. The Kansai style where they prefer to cook the meat first and add all the ingredients later. And the Kanto style where they prefer to cook all the ingredients together.
Do it the way you think is best, if you don't have or don't want a certain ingredient in the recipe, feel free to modify it. The quantity of each ingredient is up to the person's preference and how they want the dish to turn out.
Ingredients
For the sukiyaki (meat and vegetables)
- We recommend a tender meat such as sliced filet mignon;
- 1 package of shirataki/itokonnyaku or udon noodles;
- Tofu cut into cubes;
- Sliced green onion
- Swiss chard leaves sliced into pieces
- 1 grated ginger
- 1/2 onion grated
- Shiitake mushroom or champignon to taste
- 5 spoons of soy sauce
- Pepper cut into strips
- Any other vegetables you want, cut into slices or cubes;
to make the sauce
- 1/2 cup of soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sake
- 4 tablespoons of vinegar
- 300 ml of water
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- A little sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons of butter
Preparation mode
Season the meat with onion, grated ginger, and Shoyu, and let it marinate for 1 hour. Now you decide if you want to cook everything together or cook the meat first and add the ingredients and sauces as you see fit or as you're serving. It is a common practice to add raw egg on top of the recipe in each individual bowl.
I hope you enjoy the recipe! To complement the article, we will include a video explaining more details and teaching step by step a sukiyaki recipe.