Japan · Meat Dishes

Sukiyaki (Japanese Beef Hot Pot)

Sukiyaki (すき焼き, 寿喜烧 in Chinese) is a Japanese one-pot dish in which thin slices of marbled beef, tofu, negi, mushrooms and shungiku simmer in a sweet-salty sauce of soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar called warishita, and…

35 min✻4 servings✻555 kcal

Ingredients

beef, thinly sliced marbled (ribeye or chuck)400 g
grilled tofu (yaki-dofu) or firm tofu300 g
japanese long onion (negi) or leek, white and pale green part200 g
fresh shiitake mushrooms6
enoki mushrooms100 g
shungiku (garland chrysanthemum) or spinach100 g
shirataki noodles200 g
beef fat or neutral oil1 tbsp
soy sauce100 ml
mirin100 ml
sake100 ml
sugar3 tbsp
water or cold-brewed kombu water300 ml
very fresh eggs, for dipping4

Cook’s note

Yaki-dofu is firm tofu that has been grilled so it holds its shape in the broth; if you can't find it, use firm tofu and brown it in a dry pan for a minute per side first. Shungiku is edible chrysanthemum greens with a bitter, herbal edge; spinach or watercress will do. Negi is the thick Japanese long onion: the white part of a leek is a fair stand-in. Shirataki are konjac noodles and can simply be left out. Ask the butcher for a piece of beef fat, or use a tablespoon of neutral oil. Sake can be any drinking or cooking sake. About the raw egg: it is the tradition in Japan, but raw egg carries a risk of food poisoning. Use very fresh eggs, buy pasteurised eggs, or skip the dip and eat the beef straight from the pan, which is still very good. For children, older people and pregnant guests, skip the raw egg.

Method

1Drain the shirataki, boil it for 2 minutes and drain again; this removes the faint smell of the packing liquid. Cut it into bite-sized lengths. Slice the negi on the diagonal into 4 cm pieces, cut the tofu into 8 pieces, trim the shiitake and halve them, separate the enoki into small bunches and cut the shungiku into 5 cm lengths. Arrange everything on a platter and keep the beef on a separate plate, because it goes into the pan in two batches.
2Make the warishita first: in the Kanto style the sauce is ready before anything touches the pan. Simmer the sake and mirin in a small pot for about a minute to cook off the alcohol, then add the soy sauce, sugar and water. Stir until the sugar dissolves and switch off as soon as it starts to bubble. Because the sauce is mixed separately, every batch of beef and vegetables gets the same seasoning, however unevenly the pan heats.
3Break the eggs into four small bowls and beat each one lightly with chopsticks until the white no longer hangs in strings. Set them out at the table with the sauce. Read the note on raw egg in the author's note below and decide now whether you will use them, because the dish works either way.
4Set a wide, deep skillet (about 28 cm) over medium heat. Melt the beef fat in it, or heat the oil, then add the negi and brown it for 1 to 2 minutes, until the edges are golden and the pan smells sweet. The browned negi flavours the fat that the beef is about to cook in.
5Lay half of the beef in a single layer without overlapping and pour in about a third of the warishita. Cook for 30 to 60 seconds, only until the pink is gone, and eat these first slices straight away, dipped in egg. Thin marbled beef turns from tender to tough within a minute or two in hot sauce, so this is the moment to take it out rather than keep cooking.
6Push the beef to one side and add the tofu, shirataki, shiitake, enoki and half of the shungiku, arranging them in groups instead of piling them up. Pour in another third of the warishita and lower the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, until the shiitake are soft and the tofu has taken on a brown colour at the edges; tofu and shirataki need this time to soak up the sauce.
7Taste the broth. Vegetables release water while the sauce reduces, so if it turns too salty add a few tablespoons of water at a time, and if it tastes flat add a spoonful of the remaining warishita. Add the rest of the beef and the remaining shungiku, cook for 1 to 2 minutes and eat. The greens go in last because they wilt in about a minute. Keep eating in rounds, topping up the sauce as needed.