Sukiyaki

Chen’s Kanto-style sukiyaki sears thinly sliced beef before simmering it with vegetables, mushrooms, broiled tofu and shirataki noodles. The Japanese hot pot is cooked and shared at the dining table.

Her warishita combines sake, mirin, sugar and soy sauce. A separate cold-steeped kombu stock is brought to the table so the cooking sauce can be diluted and adjusted as the meal progresses.

Napa cabbage, chrysanthemum greens, Tokyo negi, burdock and onion are prepared alongside enoki, maitake and shiitake mushrooms. The burdock is soaked and drained, while shirataki noodles are briefly boiled and drained; decorative carrot is optional.

Oil and a shallow layer of sauce start the beef in the pot. A few slices can be enjoyed first, then vegetables and the other ingredients simmer in more sauce. Small additions of stock or water balance the seasoning as successive rounds are cooked.

Chen describes sukiyaki as a warm, social meal for colder months. Optional beaten egg is served separately for dipping. Cooked udon provides the finishing course, warming in the remaining broth after most of the other ingredients have been eaten.