Sukiyaki
- This article refers to the food. Sukiyaki is also a nickname that was used by Kyu Sakamoto.
Sukiyaki (鋤焼 or more commonly すき焼き) is a Japanese dish in the nabemono-style (one-pot), consisting of thinly sliced beef, tofu, konnyaku noodles, leeks, onions, Chinese cabbage, and enoki mushrooms among others. The ingredients are slowly simmered in a shallow iron pot on a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Before eaten the ingredients are dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs.
Variations
Like other nabemono dishes, each Japanese region has a preferred way of cooking sukiyaki. For instance in the Kanto region soy sauce, sugar and mirin are pre-mixed, while in the Kansai region it is customary to mix the ingredients at the table.
Season
Generally sukiyaki is a dish for the colder days of the year and is commonly found on the menu of Japanese year-end parties (bonenkai).
History
Cattle were introduced to Japan via the Korean penninsula in the 2nd century A.D. powering the cultivation of rice paddies. Cattle were seen as beast of burden, particularly because the killing of quadrupeds for food was prohibited by Buddhist law. Only in war times were the soldiers given beef, so as to build up strength for battle. Returning with an appetite for beef, the soldiers cooked it on plow shares over hot coals outside the house, as cooking it indoors was considered a sacrilege and desecration to the household by the older generation. Hence the literal meaning of sukiyaki is grilling on a plow share. Only after prolonged contact with the West during the Meiji era did beef lose its bad reputation. During that period, the dish developed to its current form.