It’s always good to come home and sleep in your own bed after a long and uncomfortable trans-Atlantic flight and awakening at 4:45 a.m. to a gentle, cleansing rain made it even better 🙂 It’s clear and sunny now, but when the days become chilly and damp, I often crave a warming bowl of udon or soba noodles from Ebisu Ramen, a Japanese noodle house here in Huntington Beach. During our last rainy spell I thought about one of my favorite childhood dishes: Sukiyaki (Japanese: 鋤焼 or more commonly すき焼き), a Japanese dish in the nabemono (Japanese Hot pot) style.
Similar to shabu shabu, sukiyaki consists of meat (usually thinly sliced beef) slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Before being eaten, the ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs.
Growing up in northwest Arkansas we raised most of our family’s food but there was nothing in the way of ethnic markets, so my mom’s Sukiyaki was an Americanized version made without many of the traditional Japanese ingredients in a cast iron pan on the stove top, but delicious and fondly remembered just the same.
Sukiyaki with Tofu & Shirataki Noodles
The Japanese are very fond of sugar and salt in their cooking and after years of eliminating as much sugar and salt from my diet as possible, I find that sukiyaki in restaurants is often too sweet for me. This recipe contains about half of the sugar that’s commonly used and much less sodium by substituting low-sodium broth for soy sauce. You can buy mirin and beef specially cut for sukiyaki at Japanese markets. All the other ingredients are available at most grocery stores.
1/2 cup low sodium beef or vegetable broth
1/2 cup sake or mirin*
3 tablespoons sugar*
1 cup water
1/2 lb. sliced sukiyaki beef (thinly sliced rib eye steak)
1 pkg shitake mushrooms
1/2 pkg broiled tofu (9 oz.), cut in half and cubed
1 small Napa cabbage, thinly sliced crosswise
3-4 green onions, sliced lengthwise into 1 inch pieces
2 -6 oz. pkgs shiratake noodles (yam noodles)*
Directions:
For stovetop preparation: combine the soy sauce, mirin or sake, sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in vegetables and tofu. Ladle mixture over noodles in bowls. Quickly sear beef in a skillet and add to soup or simply add to the hot broth if you prefer your beef on the rare side.
Add low sodium soy sauce at the table, if desired.
Serves 2 | Enjoy 🙂
* Mirin is sweet rice wine. Traditionally granulated sugar is used, I used organic Sucanat. Shirataki noodles have no fat and are low-sodium, gluten free, and soy free.
louise
October 30 at 6:58 pmthinly sliced rib eye? wow, i bet that is so tender and delicious… glad you are back safely, can hardly wait to see all your pics- how fun, i’m so jealous
~Chef Louise
whatsfordinneracrossstatelines
October 31 at 10:44 amI love this choice for the YBR, I would be perfect for today. Glad you are home safe. Happy Halloween!
-Gina-
Faith
October 31 at 11:17 amIt must feel good to be back home! That is one glorious bowl of noodles. My mom used to make a version of sukiyaki when I was young…I haven’t had it in so long! Your version looks amazing and I like how you reduced the sugar and salt content.
Monet
October 31 at 9:08 pmI love coming back at home…there is nothing better than being able to prepare or eat some of your favorite meals. I love sukiyaki, and your version looks just delicious. It is starting to cool down in Austin (finally) so I am going to have to give one of these warming bowls a try again!
Angie's Recipes
October 31 at 10:29 pmThat’s a bowl of yumminess!! Had sukiyaki years ago….almost forget howGOOD it tastes….thanks for sharing the recipe!
Angie
Sage
November 1 at 6:20 amWe love Sukiyaki
Haven’t made it in a whiile. We usually make it at the table in my elelctriic frypan. Love your version and I have to try it. Spotted you on YBR.
Rita
lani
November 1 at 7:11 amThe best, specially for cold weather right now! First time here, nice posts you have! Have a great week!
FOODESSA
November 1 at 9:34 amHello Priscilla…doing a little catching up today. Hope everything has been well 😉
Your recipe is both wonderful and very accessible…especially since I actually have these ingredients in my pantry. I particularly like Mirin and use it quite a bit.
Ciao for now,
Claudia
Summer
November 1 at 9:44 amOh so delicious and heartily so!!
Victoria
November 1 at 1:01 pmI recently discovered shirataki noodles at work. They are definitely an interesting ingredient that I had never seen before. I don’t eat much tofu, but other than that this dish looks really tasty 🙂
Magic of Spice
November 1 at 2:54 pmWelcome home 🙂 Great recipe…Love these flavors (well except the meat, lol).
I’ll have to have you help me think of a veggie version too 🙂
Priscilla
November 1 at 3:05 pmThanks my fellow foodies! LOL
@Victoria – you can leave out the tofu 🙂
@ Magic of Spice – you can leave out the beef 🙂
Nancy/SpicieFoodie
November 1 at 2:56 pmPriscilla your Sykiyaki looks and sounds like a great warming meal to me. It’s been so cold here already and I can’t get enough soups. I also love a big bowl of Udon on a cold night. Thanks for participating in the YBR roundup, and I do hope you join us for November’s roundup too. Also thanks for helping get the word out.
claudia lamascolo
November 1 at 4:05 pmlove the flavors here sounds perfect with tofu, have been wanting to try a healty dish like this one now I have found it! thanks
fooddreamer
November 1 at 4:39 pmThis is a great recipe for me! I can’t do too many noodles with my blood sugars, but I can do shiratake noodles! It sounds delicious.
Dimah
November 1 at 11:46 pmThis really looks and sounds fantastic! Beautiful photos!
Jean
November 2 at 9:41 pmAfter a long trip, I always crave the Asian comfort food I grew up with. I understand why you made this sukiyaki–it’s flavorful but not cloyingly rich. I just want to pick up the chopsticks and pop those tofu cubes in my mouth, yum!
Sommer @ A Spicy Perspective
November 3 at 8:55 pmOne of my closest friends just moved home form Japan and taught me to make this. Yours looks lovely!
The Rowdy Chowgirl
November 4 at 1:44 pmHad to come check out the sukiyaki–looks delicious! I always seem to crave Asian food when I get home from a long trip. I think it helps with jetlag!
Amanda @ bakingwithoutabox
November 5 at 10:56 amNothing beats coming back home! Except maybe when you come back to a bowl of that. It looks so good.