Sukiyaki (Japanese Night)

Sukiyaki a famous and quite simple dish to make if you can get the ingredients! Can be great fun if you have an electric or portable gas skillet for in the middle of your table...........

To make the sauce you will need:

1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup Hon - Mirin.............. Mirin? what is Mirin? Sweet rice wine which is a golden coloured sweet wine which has an alcohol content of around 13 or 14%. You can use sherry if you cannot get Mirin.

Sauce Method
Mix soy sauce, sugar, stock, and mirin together in a bowl.

The Ingredients

1 piece beef suet large enough to lightly grease the hot pan
1lb or 1/2kg of lean beef, slice it very thinly across the grain, then
cut into bite sized pieces working on the average sized mouth OK.
1/4 cup sugar
1 Bunch of Spring Onions (Scallions) cut to 2inch lengths
4 ounces yam noodles (shirataki) Not essential and maybe hard to locate apart from being quite expensive
1 cup sliced bamboo shoots (Canned is OK)
2 stalks celery, sliced
8 to 10 fresh Shiitake mushrooms sliced thickly or 1 cup of pre soaked, rinsed and sliced dried shiitake)
1 cube fresh tofu, cut into bite sized pieces

Directions

Arrange meat and vegetables on a large platter. Heat your skillet to 375 degrees F. wipe with the Beef Suet, if it does not sizzle the pan is not hot enough.

Add the meat to the pan and Brown by turning quickly, add sugar slowly. Move the meat to the corner of the skillet when well browned. Now add all the other vegetables, keeping each separate. Pour in the sauce and cover (Makes a fantastic sound and the Aroma is just wonderful). Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Uncover and turn all ingredients while cooking 2 minutes more. Serve on small plates................. or

Sukiyaki is normally served with Rice. Also when eating authentically the food will be taken direct from the pan.
Each person would have a small bowl with raw egg in it. You take the boiling hot item from the central cooker, and dip it in the egg. This transfers the heat to the egg so you don't scald your mouth.

Hope you enjoyed the recipe and the tips.

Kirin is an excellent Japanese bottled beer with a subtle flavour to further enhance your Japanese night. Alternatively go for an unusual named but popular Japanese soft drink called Pocari Sweat