Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is the Japanese sweet and salty hot-pot meal. It is usually prepared tableside on a portable gas stove, in a traditional shallow iron pan. This popular Japanese dish is usually made with beef, preferably the well-marbled tender cuts. However, some varieties employ pork or even tofu, creating the vegetarian version of the dish. Other ingredients in sukiyaki include sliced Chinese cabbage, mushrooms, leeks, gelatinous konnyaku noodles, and shungiku leaves. All the ingredients are then quickly cooked in a mixture of mirin, soy sauce, and sugar. Sukiyaki is a communal style dish, served in one pot, then shared among a larger group of people. There are two traditional ways hot to prepare sukiyaki, Kansai and Kanto style. Essentially, they differ in the order in which the ingredients are added to the broth. In the Kansai variety, all ingredients are added at the same time, while in the Kanto variety, the meat is cooked before any other ingredients are added. The tradition also suggests that before consumption, every morsel should be dipped into beaten eggs. It is believed that the dish was developed during the Meiji era, which started at the end of 19th century. At that time, Japan opened its borders and foreigners introduced new cooking styles and the tradition of eating meat. Since then, it has become one of the favorite communal style dishes in Japan, commonly shared among larger groups of people.