How to Make Sukiyaki: Homemade Sukiyaki Recipe

Sukiyaki is one of a group of Japanese hot pot dishes known as nabemono, or nabe. The ingredients for sukiyaki are slow-simmered in a dashi broth with soy sauce, mirin, and sake (which makes warishita or sukiyaki sauce) in a cast iron pot. This is different from other nabe like shabu shabu, in which raw ingredients are cooked simply in a boiling pot of dashi broth before being dunked in a seasoning sauce.

To avoid using personal chopsticks when sharing sukiyaki, each person uses extra-long serving chopsticks called tori-bashi to remove items from the communal pan and place them in their own personal bowl. As the group eats, the pan is continually replenished with more sauce or raw ingredients.

There are two styles of sukiyaki: Kanto-style (served in Eastern Japan), and Kansai-style (served in Western Japan):

• Kanto-style: In Kanto-style sukiyaki, the warishita is heated to a simmer and, once hot, the meat and vegetables are added and cooked.
• Kansai-style: In Kansai-style sukiyaki, an initial portion of meat is seared and seasoned with brown sugar in the heated pot. The warishita is then added to the pot, along with a second portion of beef and the remaining ingredients.

The star of most sukiyaki is the beef, which is sold pre-sliced specifically for sukiyaki (or shabu shabu) in many Japanese grocery stores. Marbled cuts like Wagyu or Kobe beef—which are melt-in-your-mouth cuts—are not uncommon.

Sukiyaki can also be made with chicken, fish, or be entirely vegetarian. Other popular ingredients for sukiyaki may include:

• Enoki mushrooms
• Shiitake mushrooms
• Chrysanthemum leaves (shungiku)
• Scallions
• Japanese leeks (negi)
• Baby bok choy
• Chinese cabbage
• Grilled tofu
• Shirataki noodles (konnyaku yam noodles with a gelatinous, sticky consistency)
• Udon noodles
• Mochi cakes