Sukiyaki (Japanese Hot Pot)

Sukiyaki (すき焼き) is a Japanese hot pot dish that is commonly found at Japanese year-end parties (bōnenkai) and hence a perfect meal idea for year end celebrations. I love to serve this dish on cold winter nights as it is full of flavour without extra dipping sauces! Preparation is kept to the minimum; just cutting and mixing the sauce/broth. The rest of the evening can be spent sitting around the dining table chatting as you cook and eat with joy.

Usually when you eat this at the restaurant, you can't drink the soup as it is too salty and sweet but when when prepared at home, you can add more water to make this delicious soup drinkable! If you don't have a portable stove like the one featured in this video, you can just cook this over the stovetop and serve the whole dish in a pot.Hope you enjoy this dish, do subscribe for more! Have a Happy New Year!

[NOTE: This recipe can also be found on page 31 of my cookbook, Cook Your Way To A Healthier Marriage. Available at Kinokuniya, MPH, Times, and Popular bookstores in Singapore.]

INGREDIENTS

Sauces

• 4 tbsp sugar
• 100 ml soy sauce
• 100 ml mirin
• 150 ml cooking sake

Vegetables

• 1 head Napa cabbage (wom pok)
• 3 medium size carrots
• 1 white raddish (daikon)
• 3 stalks leek
• Egg Silken Tofu
• Chestnut mushrooms (shiitake or shimeji mushrooms if available)

Others

• 350 ml water
• Thinly sliced beef
• Egg (optional)

Place sauce mixture ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil.

Arrange vegetable ingredients in a big serving pot and pour sauce mixture over, followed by the water.

Place serving pot on high heat over a portable stove. Bring the broth to a boil then lower heat to simmer.

TIP! While heating the broth, gently press ingredients down to ensure everything is cooked.

TIP! To prevent spillage, remove some broth from the pot and set aside for to top up later.

TIP! As the broth simmers, the ingredients will shrink and so you can top up the pot with more vegetables.

Cook the beef in the broth throughout the meal.

TIP! Scoop some broth over the meat to distribute heat and make the meat cook faster.

TIP! To enjoy the meat even more, dip a freshly cooked slice of beef in a bowl of gently beaten raw egg before eating.

Serve the hot pot with freshly steamed rice that goes well with the savoury broth.

End off your meal with a chopsticks fight for every last bit of the ingredients!