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- This article refers to the food. Sukiyaki is also another name for the song Ue o muite arukō by Kyu Sakamoto.
The ingredients are slowly simmered in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Before being eaten, the ingredients are dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs. A common joke in Japanese comedy is that making passable sukiyaki can be done with a very tight budget, especially if one is poor.
Variations
Like other nabemono dishes, each Japanese region has a preferred way of cooking sukiyaki. For instance, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin are pre-mixed in the Kanto region, while in the Kansai region it is customary to mix the ingredients at the table.
Sukiyaki, or simply "suki" is also the name for a type of meal enjoyed in various other parts of Asia. The name can be used for a dish remotely resembling Japanese sukiyaki eaten with rice noodles, pork, and "sukiyaki" sauce, to a meal where the diners cook various kinds of meat and vegetables themselves in a hot pot (the "MK" restaurant chain in Thailand specializes in this kind of "suki").
History
Cattle were introduced to Japan via Korea in the 2nd century CE, powering the cultivation of rice paddies. Particularly after the 8th century when Buddhism was introduced to Japan, cattle were seen primarily as working animals, as the killing of quadrupeds for food was prohibited by Buddhist law. Only in wartime were the soldiers given beef, to build up strength for battle. Returning with an appetite for beef, the soldiers cooked it on plowshares 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 (焼) on a plowshare (鋤)." 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.
External link
Japanese cuisine | Beef
"Sukiyaki"