Sukiyaki recipe

This sukiyaki dish is a dish I learned from my mother-in-law, who is Taiwanese. While I have no clue how close this is to the traditional sukiyaki dish, it is delicious and great comfort food! It takes about 3 hours to make this dish, though most of the time is simply letting the pot simmer over low heat. Believe it or not, this dish tastes best when cooked in a Mishina Nabe (Japanese clay pot). [Side note: I learned some good tips about prepping a newly purchased Mishina Nabe and will post that in a subsequent post. ]

The following recipe is good for 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• Soy sauce soup base, e.g. "Ninben" brand Tsuyu no moto. Kikkoman Memmi
• 1 package of yam noodles
• 1 package of soft tofu
• 3-4 varieties of fish cakes, e.g. kamaboko, narutomaki, chikuwa, etc. You can basically get whatever types of fish cake you like. I like kamabobo and narutomaki for the color they add to the dish.
• 1 package of imitation crab meat
• 3-4 varieties of mushrooms, e.g. enoki, shitake, shimeji mushrooms and whatever Japanese mushrooms I could find at the supermarket that looks good
• 1 napa cabbage
• 1-2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 8-10 slices of sukiyaki-style (thin-cut) beef

Instructions:
1. Using a soy soap base, add water to dilute and heat up liquid mixture in pot. Follow instructions on bottle for proportions. I generally use about a 1:7 ratio or so. Taste mixture and adjust accordingly.

2. Thinly slice up an onion, roughly chop up 1-2 carrots, and add to pot

3. Slice up one whole napa cabbage and add to pot

4. Cut up (if needed) different types of mushrooms and add to pot. If you're using dried shitake, make sure you wash them, soak in hot water for 1-2 hours before using.

5. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 2-3 hours.

6. 1 hour before eating, add in different types of fish cakes, imitation crab meat and yam noodles

7. A few minutes before eating, add in diced tofu

8. Serve with white rice