Cooking with garden tools?

You know, I’d never heard of Sukiyaki until I came to Japan. I’ve been out of the loop, I guess. Even So and my friend Lou were like, “Haven’t you heard of the Sukiyaki song?” (Apparently it was a big hit in the 60’s.) Never heard of it. I “YouTubed” thinking maybe I’d recognize the melody. Still nothing. A tood tune, though.

Anyway, this week I won’t be learning the lyrics—just making the dish. Sukiyaki is another winter standard with beef and veg. The ingredients are cooked in a sweet and savory sauce and then dipped in raw egg before eating. So good. Now, some people might be a bit squeamish about the raw egg deal but I say, if a raw egg was good enough for Rocky, then it’s good enough for me!

Like many Japanese dishes, and like the Sukiyaki song, there are a lot of versions (even Selena did a cover, God love her). This is my take on an old classic. It’s so old, in fact, So’s uncle tells me that it was first made by field-working peasants who cooked their meal on a spade held over an open fire. (“Suki” means spade in Japanese.) Maybe that’s why sukiyaki pots are usually cast-iron.

It still holds true that this dish is best cooked over a flame, but a portable gas burner will do. This way, you can have friends or the whole fam. sit around the table and serve themselves from the pot. Great for a dinner party, but also nice for an intimate dinner for two, which is what we did.

See how we made out...