How to Make Sukiyaki Hot Pot

Sukiyaki is a Japanese hot pot dish made of beef and vegetables that is usually enjoyed in winter. In Japan, meat is an expensive food and is usually reserved for special occasions. Therefore, people usually only eat Sukiyaki hot pot on a special day right after receiving salary. However, if you simply want to enjoy a heartwarming meal with friends and family, you can still choose the easy and delicious Sukiyaki hot pot.

Table of Contents

Ingredient

Meat, Vegetables and Noodles

350g beef tenderloin or similar, cut very thin
1/4 cup beef fat; If you don’t have beef fat, you can use a few tablespoons of vegetable oil or butter
230 g grilled tofu ( yaki ); As long as you hold the tofu firmly
1 small cabbage or 1/2 large cabbage
12 shiitake mushrooms ( shiitake ) and 1 bag of enoki mushrooms ( enoki ); Or you can substitute with Portobello mushrooms
1 large scallion ( negi ) or half a bunch of small scallions
2 bunches of chamomile ( shungiku ); watercress, spinach or whatever you like
1 pack of vermicelli ( shirataki ) or any kind of transparent vermicelli you like
1 raw egg per person (optional)
1 bag of frozen or fresh udon noodles (optional)

Sukiyaki Sauce

1/2 cup of Sake for cooking
1/2 cup Mirin (Japanese rice wine similar to Sake)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup raw or granulated sugar

Prepare materials

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Put Shirataki noodles in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Once the water boils, turn off the heat and drain the noodles. Then, put the noodles in a bowl of cold water.

Shirataki noodles do not need to be cooked for too long. You just need to wait for the water to boil enough to remove the smell of the vermicelli. After blanching in boiling water, the noodles will be able to fully absorb the flavor of Sukiyaki sauce.
If using other types of vermicelli, please read the instructions for use and boil it briefly in boiling water, do not boil it too thoroughly.

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Slice the beef as thinly as possible or ask the butcher to cut it for you. Sukiyaki hot pot should be eaten with thinly sliced beef. Therefore, you should choose sirloin (or similar cuts of meat) for ease of cutting.

Store beef in the refrigerator for a few hours if you want to slice it yourself. Meat that is firm but not completely frozen is easier to slice. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Cut the cabbage stalks separately before slicing the leaves. The stalks of cabbage are usually more fibrous and need to cook longer. Therefore, you should cut the stalks separately and then cut into pieces 2.5 cm thick (or thinner). Then cut the cabbage leaves into larger pieces.

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Prepare mushrooms. If shiitake mushrooms are not available, use other mushrooms and cut them into bite-sized pieces. As for shiitake mushrooms, prepare according to the instructions below:

Use a knife to cut off the stem of the mushroom. Use a knife to cut a small star or cross on the mushroom cap. Imagine there is a straight line between the mushroom cap. Then, use a spatula to cut a line at a 30-degree angle with the line in the middle of the mushroom cap. Note that only a small part of the mushroom should be cut off, enough to see the white part. Next, rotate the knife in the opposite direction and cut another line creating a 30 degree angle. Cut another line at the right angle between the two cuts above to create a cross and cut another line to create a star.
For Enoki mushrooms, you just need to wash and cut off the roots.

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Cut the scallions diagonally into 2.5cm lengths.

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Separate the leaves and stems of the chard leaves. For spinach or watercress, you also need to wash and separate the leaves, remove the stem.

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Make Sukiyaki Sauce. Pour 1/2 cup Sake, 1/2 cup Mirin, 1/3 cup soy sauce, and 1/4 cup sugar into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat as soon as the mixture comes to a boil. The purpose of this process is to allow the alcohol in the sake to evaporate, not to drain the sauce.

Cooking Sukiyaki Hot Pot

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Heat a large hot pot over medium heat. The traditional way of cooking Sukiyaki hot pot is to place a cast iron or earthenware pot on a kerosene stove. When you cook this way, you can enjoy your food hot right at the table. If you don’t have a hot pot and kerosene stove, you can use an electric pan to cook hot pot at the table.

If you don’t have an electric hot pot or pan, you can still cook hot pot on a non-table fire. Just keep in mind that it’s a good idea to choose a large pot with a tight-fitting lid.

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Put beef fat, lard or other fat in the pot. Traditional Sukiyaki uses beef fat, but you can use lard or even vegetable oil for a healthy meal.

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Put the thinly sliced beef in the pot and fry until the meat is no longer pink. The beef will continue to cook in the pot as you cook the other ingredients, so don’t overcook it. When the beef has just lost its pink color, push it to the side of the pot so it doesn’t cook too quickly.

Some cooks will put Sukiyaki sauce in the pot while frying the beef. ^{[2] X Research Source} Sukiyaki sauce will foam up and drain quickly due to the soy sauce content.
Others like to sweeten the beef fried with raw sugar. You can choose the method according to your preference or use both.

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Place the cabbage stalks, grilled tofu, and mushrooms in the pot. Remember to keep each ingredient separate. Each ingredient must be in each corner of the pan and not mix with each other.

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Put the Shirataki in the pot, but don’t put it near the beef. Because vermicelli contains compounds that make beef tough, it should not be cooked close to beef.

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Add all remaining ingredients to the pot. Put cabbage leaves, chrysanthemum greens, scallions into the pan. Remember to keep each ingredient separate.

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Add the remaining Sukiyaki sauce to the pot and cover.

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Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until the meat is fully cooked and the cabbage stalks are no longer crispy.

Enjoy Sukiyaki

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Crack an egg for each person to make the dipping sauce. Traditional Sukiyaki is served with a dipping sauce made from raw eggs. ^{[3] X Source of Research} This combination may sound strange to you, but it is actually very delicious if you try it.

However, you may not use this ingredient if you are afraid that raw eggs carry salmonella bacteria or do not like the taste of raw eggs. Even so, salmonella bacteria in raw eggs is rare. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

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Dip meat and vegetables into raw eggs before serving. You just need to take the ingredients you want to eat out of the hot pot and dip them into the eggs.

If you are eating Sukiyaki with strangers, you should use the other end of your chopsticks to remove the food from the pot. This is considered politeness when dining.

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Add meat and vegetables to the pot. If the ingredients are many and you can’t put them all in the pot from the beginning, you can continue to add them to the hot pot while eating. Meat and vegetables will cook faster than other ingredients.

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Leftover broth can be preserved and served with Udon noodles the next day. In Japan, people often use leftover hot pot as a broth to eat with Udon noodles. If the hot pot sauce is left over and not enough, you can make more Sukiyaki sauce to mix it with. Before serving, bring the broth to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. If the broth is too salty, you can add 1/3 cup of water to taste.

Advice

To enjoy Sukiyaki hot pot in the right way like the Japanese, you should buy a kerosene stove to cook hot pot right at the table.
You can buy “Sukiyaki Hot Pot” which is available in supermarkets. This hot pot consists of pre-cut ingredients, except for meat, tofu and sauce. Thus, the process of making hot pot will be simpler, but the taste will not be as good as homemade Sukiyaki.
Sukiyaki hot pot is very popular with children. Young children love to eat Sukiyaki hot pot with a lot of sugar and like to pick up their favorite food in the hot pot.

Warning

If using a kerosene stove, you need to place it in a well-ventilated area and there are no flammable objects on the table.
If using raw eggs, you should choose organic products / farm-raised eggs to avoid the risk of ingesting salmonella.
Do not let small children near the kerosene stove and hot pot of hot pot.