[Sukiyaki]

“Sukiyaki” is always ranked as one of the best dishes to eat in Japan on foreign language websites. Many of you may have seen scenes of families sitting around a pot and eating sukiyaki together in Japanese anime and other programs that are widely broadcast overseas. Sukiyaki is a slightly extravagant and special feast for celebrations or special events, where you buy some good meat and eat it with your family around a pot. Since warm sukiyaki is especially delicious in the coming cold season, I would like to write about sukiyaki in Japan.

Sukiyaki was not eaten in Japan until the end of the Edo period (1603-1868). After the opening of the port of Yokohama in 1859, foreigners living in foreign settlements introduced the culture of meat eating to Japan. 1867 saw the opening of “beef hot pot restaurants” in Edo, where beef and green onions were boiled in a flat pot and eaten. In the Meiji period (1868-1912), the ban on meat consumption was lifted by the Meiji Emperor, and the practice spread widely to the general population. The name “sukiyaki” was originally used in the Kansai region. Dishes called “uosuki” and “okisuki” using fish have long been eaten in the Kansai region, and in the Meiji era, sukiyaki using beef appeared in the Kansai region. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, Kansai-style sukiyaki was introduced to the Kanto region along with the name of the dish, and Kanto-style sukiyaki, in which meat and vegetables are simmered in warishita, came to be eaten.

Long-established and famous sukiyaki restaurants can be found throughout Japan, but for those who prefer to eat sukiyaki on their own, beef bowl chain restaurants and bento box stores are recommended. Beef sukiyaki hot pot and other dishes are also available only during the winter season. While the taste at restaurants is of course delicious, sukiyaki is surprisingly easy to make at home. The basic ingredients include beef, green onions, Chinese cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, garland chrysanthemum, baked tofu, and shirataki (water drop), but you can also use chicken or pork as the meat and add vegetables of your choice. Seasonings include broth, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin, but there is also a convenient product called “sukiyaki sauce” that can be easily seasoned, so be sure to look for it at supermarkets and other stores.

Kiya's Sukiyaki Pot stores heat, so the temperature does not drop as you add ingredients, and the nabe maintains a constant temperature, making it ideal for sukiyaki, a dish in which ingredients are cooked and simmered in succession. It will surely be a great help for the increasing number of gatherings of family and friends during the year-end and New Year's holidays. The more you learn about sukiyaki, from how it is made to how it is seasoned, the more profound the world of sukiyaki becomes. Whether at a restaurant or at home, enjoy sukiyaki this winter to warm your body and soul.

Kiya's Sukiyaki Pot
https://www.shokunin.com/en/kiya/sukiyaki.html
Tsujiwa Kanaami's Yudofu Shakushi (Ladle for Boiled Tofu)
https://www.shokunin.com/en/tsujiwa/yudofu.html
Ceramic Japan's Black & White Bowl
https://www.shokunin.com/en/ceramicjapan/shirokuro.html
Shirokiya Shikkiten's Teshiozara
https://www.shokunin.com/en/shirokiya/teshio.html

References
https://www.imahan.com/archives/3823
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%99%E3%81%8D%E7%84%BC%E3%81%8D
https://recipe.yamasa.com/blog/1810_sukiyaki_7
https://www.meijimura.com/meiji-note/post/meiji-western-meal/