Sukiyaki

A Japanese dish ... and bringing memories of my childhood years in Japan as a MK (missionary's kid). I haven't made this dish for quite a few years, but we decided to serve it at our recent family birthday meal, celebrating birthdays of three family members. Such a treat ... and a very fun meal to serve, as it is cooked and served while seated at the table. I doubled the recipe for the sixteen of us who were here this past Sunday evening.

My recipe comes mainly from my mother, and I have also added a few details from some of the Japanese cookbooks I have. There are a variety of different ingredients that can be used, but this is the way that we like it best:

Sukiyaki

To be served over rice ...

2 1/2 to 3 pounds thinly sliced beef (browned in small amount of oil)

1 pound carrots (or a bit less), cut in short sticks (parboiled, still slightly crisp)

1/2 head of cabbage, cut in chunks

1 bunch of green onions, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 box of tofu (firm), cut in chunks

2 (16 oz.) bags of shirataki

1-2 cans of water chestnuts

(Yield: 6-8 servings)

First step ... preparation of all the ingredients. A bit of explanation for some items:

Beef ~ works best to have the meat department of the grocery store slice the beef.  I purchased Sirloin Tip Roast for our meal, and asked to have it sliced as thinly as possible, without the pieces turning into shreds.  They did it perfectly ... so much easier than trying to do it myself.

Carrots ~ need to be partly cooked ahead of time, until still slightly crisp.

Shirataki ~ purchased at an Asian Market/find in the refrigerated section ... these thin, translucent yam noodles are packaged in a liquid. Drain the liquid off, rinse the noodles, and cut with scissors into approximate 4 inch lengths. (We love this ingredient, and we call them "rubber bands", or even "worms"!)

Arrange all the ingredients on platters, ready to be placed on the table.

Ingredients doubled for our family meal ...

Second step:

Mix the following ingredients together in a bowl:

1 1 /2 cups soy sauce

3/4 cup cooking sherry

3 cups water

3/4 cup honey

Third step:

Brown the beef in a small amount of oil in an electric frying pan. This can be done at the counter, or can be done at the table. We used two electric frying pans for our family meal, and had them all set up on the tables ahead of time ... so we browned the beef right at the table (before family gathered around for the meal).

Fourth step:

After the beef has been browned, drain, and set aside. 

Assemble a portion of each of the ingredients in the electric skillet. Set the extra platters of ingredients on the table to be added to the pans throughout the meal.

Add enough of the sauce mixture to the pan so that the ingredients are immersed. (Some of the sauce will be added later.) Heat to boiling, and simmer. (This is a good time for guests to be seated at the table, if they have not been already.)

Serve directly from the electric skillets, and add more ingredients to the pans, along with more sauce as needed, throughout the meal, bringing to boil again, and simmering until served. 

We like to serve the rice in a small bowl placed on a plate. Dishing the sukiyaki ingredients directly onto the rice works good, or the ingredients can also be placed on the plate and added to the rice later. (The very small containers of soy sauce, seen in photo below, were used for a side dish that was also part of our meal.)

Very fun to use chopsticks with this meal! So delicious ... and such a treat! And a fun meal to enjoy together ...

Linked to Tasty Tuesdays