Sukiyaki (Japanese Beef Hot Pot)

About This Recipe

Sukiyaki is one of Japan's most celebratory dishes — a tableside hot pot eaten in winter, on New Year's Eve, and at family reunions. Thinly sliced marbled beef (ideally wagyu or US prime ribeye sliced paper-thin) sizzles first in beef fat or butter at the bottom of a heavy iron sukiyaki nabe, then it is doused with warishita — a sweet, dark broth of soy, mirin, sake and sugar that defines the dish. Tofu, enoki and shiitake mushrooms, scallion, shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves), shirataki noodles, and napa cabbage are added in stages and simmer in the bubbling broth. The Kanto (Tokyo) and Kansai (Osaka/Kyoto) styles diverge: Kanto cooks build the broth first and add everything to it, while Kansai cooks sear the beef in fat, sprinkle it with sugar, deglaze with soy, then add the rest. In both, each diner dunks pieces from the pot into a small bowl of raw beaten egg before eating — a step that may sound strange but transforms the dish, mellowing the salt and giving every bite a silken coating.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 600 gwell-marbled beef ribeye or sirloin, sliced 2 mm thin (ask the butcher to use a slicer)
• 1 block (300 g)firm tofu, drained and cut into 3 cm cubes
• 200 gshirataki noodles, rinsed and briefly blanched
• 8fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed and tops scored
• 1 pack (100 g)enoki mushrooms, root trimmed and separated
• 4long scallions (Tokyo negi), cut diagonally into 4 cm pieces
• 1 bunch (150 g)shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) or watercress
• 0.25napa cabbage, cut into 4 cm pieces
• 1 small piecebeef suet or 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 120 mlJapanese soy sauce
• 120 mlmirin
• 80 mlsake
• 3 tbspsugar
• 180 mldashi or water
• 4 largevery fresh eggs (pasteurized recommended), for dipping
• steamed Japanese rice, to serve

Instructions

1. 1

   Make warishita

   Combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar and dashi in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer just until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Pour into a heatproof jug — this is the broth you'll add to the pot in stages.

2. 2

   Arrange everything tableside

   Lay all ingredients on a large platter — beef in one section, vegetables in another, tofu and noodles in another. Sukiyaki is a tableside performance: everything needs to be within reach.

   Slicing beef yourself? Freeze the block 45 minutes first — it cuts much thinner.

3. 3

   Heat the pot

   Place a sukiyaki nabe or heavy 28 cm cast-iron pan on a portable burner at the table. Heat over medium-high. Rub the bottom of the pot with the beef suet until it's slick and shiny.

4. 4

   Kansai-style start (recommended)

   Add a few slices of beef and sear briefly, just until they color. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar directly onto the beef, then splash with a few tablespoons of warishita. The sugar caramelizes — that's the foundation flavor.

5. 5

   Build the pot

   Push the seared beef to one side. Add scallion, mushrooms, tofu, shirataki and cabbage in clusters. Pour in enough warishita to come about a third up the vegetables — not to cover. Each ingredient cooks in its own bubbling spot.

6. 6

   Simmer 5–7 minutes

   Cover loosely and simmer. The cabbage releases water, the broth deepens, and the tofu and mushrooms drink in flavor. Add shungiku in the last minute — overcooked it turns bitter.

7. 7

   Dip and eat

   Each diner cracks an egg into a small bowl and beats it lightly. Pick a piece from the pot with chopsticks, dunk briefly in egg, eat over rice. Refresh the pot with more beef and vegetables as you go, topping up with warishita.

Variations

• •

  Kanto-style: start with warishita already in the pot, then add beef and vegetables — softer, more soupy result.

• •

  Kyoto-style: includes a splash of fresh yuzu juice in the final broth and uses Kyoto-grown shungiku.

• •

  Pork sukiyaki (buta-suki): substitute thinly sliced pork belly — popular in Kyushu and considerably cheaper.

• •

  Vegetarian: skip the beef, double the mushrooms, and use yaki-dofu (grilled tofu) seared in sesame oil at step 4.

Storage

Sukiyaki is best at the table, but leftovers refrigerate 2 days. Reheat gently in a pot — never microwave (toughens the beef). The next-day version is excellent over fresh rice with an egg cracked on top.

Frequently Asked Questions