Sukiyaki with Rice
For a more authentic touch, replace the cooking oil with 2 pieces of beef suet or lard and rub over the bottom of the sukiyaki pot or frying pan.
INGREDIENTS | SERVES 4
- 1 small Napa cabbage
- 4 cups cooked rice
- 1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or as needed
- 10 fresh small mushrooms
- ¾ cup soy sauce
- 1 pound flank steak
- ¼ cup sake
- 1 block firm tofu
- 4 tablespoons sugar
Wash the cabbage and mung bean sprouts and drain thoroughly. Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth. Slice the mushrooms and shred the cabbage leaves. Cut the steak into paper-thin slices, no more than 3 inches long. Drain the tofu and cut into cubes.
Give each guest a small bowl with 1 cup of the cooked rice to eat with the food. Set a sukiyaki pan or large electric frying pan in the middle of the table.
Heat the cooking oil in the pan. Add ½ of the beef and lightly braise it. Add ½ of the mushrooms, cabbage, and tofu, putting each in their own section. Add as much of the soy sauce, sake, and sugar as desired. When the food is almost cooked, add ½ of the bean sprouts. Either serve the cooked food to the guests or invite them to serve themselves. Repeat with the remaining half of the food. Eat with the cooked rice.
Sukiyaki Styles
The Japanese have developed two main styles of preparing sukiyaki sauce. Mixing the sauce ingredients together before adding them to the pot is typical of the way sukiyaki is prepared in eastern Japan's Kanto region. In the Kansai region of central Japan, the sauce ingredients are normally added separately.
