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Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish in the
nabemono-style (one-pot), consisting of thinly sliced beef, tofu, konnyaku
noodles, leek, 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
peninsula 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.
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