I cheated a little bit. Our International Eats protocol was put in place so that we can try some new foods. But I opted to make a dish that most of us have eaten before. Due to my Chinese heritage and Kevin’s missionary service in Japan, we eat a lot of Asian foods around here. As such, I didn’t really feel like we needed to include these countries in our experimentations. However, I also have two food allergy kids that 1) don’t get to experience all the foods we eat in restaurants and 2) are the younger half of my children and weren’t around for many of the experiments and activities I sponsored when Daniel and Nathan were small. So I decided to cheat a little.
Way back in the early years of our marriage, Kevin and I were living the “Early American Poverty” lifestyle. That meant a night on the town consisted of some very careful grocery shopping and a movie at home with the occasional splurge by eating at Wendy’s. Only on our anniversary did we feel like the occasion warranted a bigger investment in a fancier restaurant. One of our favorites back then was the Kyoto, a local Japanese restaurant that was much more authentic and far tastier than some others. One of my favorite dishes to order when we went was sukiyaki, a Japanese hot pot style dish that had noodles, beef, tofu, and veggies all nestled in a flavorful broth. Since we couldn’t afford to eat out like that very often, I searched the internet and found a recipe to recreate sukiyaki at home. But even making it at home was a splurge, so it was a once in a long while kind of a dinner.
Our finances are not anywhere near as tight as they were back then, but sukiyaki is a meal I haven’t even thought about for a long time. While I was exploring recipes for this summer’s grand food experimentation, I happened to come across a sukiyaki recipe and realized that neither Matthew nor Malia has ever eaten it. It only took me about two seconds to decide that a little cheating was in order. And honestly, my motivation was not entirely selfless. This stuff is good. So, so good.
When the kids asked what we were having for dinner, I described it as a cross between broccoli beef and chicken long rice with some other stuff thrown in. They seemed to think that was ok, but Malia took a look at the fixings as I was prepping food and looked highly skeptical. Things improved somewhat when it came time to dish her dinner and she discovered there were a variety of things she knows she likes-rice, beef, long rice (which are mung bean noodles). That, and the fact that it smelled really good, gave her hope.
Kevin and I were both happy to revisit and old favorite. Matthew liked it as well, though he picked around the tofu and the cabbage. Malia picked around the mushrooms, tofu, and cabbage, as I knew she would, but really liked the other parts. I think if I left out some of the interesting bits it would have been an all-out winner with the kids, but Kev and I like the interesting parts so I left them in knowing the kids would opt not to sample those portions. I do have to admit that Kevin was the only one who added a raw egg to the meal the way the Japanese traditionally eat sukiyaki. I just can’t make myself eat raw eggs. Far to slimy. (Full body shudder)
The only thing I would do differently next time is marinate the beef and possibly the tofu for a bit before cooking the dish. The broth was enormously flavorful, but the beef and tofu didn’t have enough cook time to really absorb the lovely flavor. Darn. I guess that means I have to make it again. 😜
Sukiyaki Rating: 3 ½ forks
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