User:Keroobean/Sukiyaki

History

Sukiyaki is one of the internationally dishes of Japan now.Sukiyaki, it is said that “suki” means plow and “yaki” means roast in Japanese. In Japan, people were forbidden to eat beef and venison, horse, mutton and other meat from Asuka era to Meizi era issue of religion. Cattle and horse was labor force, therefore if people eat cattle and horse meat, people were punished. This is commandment of Buddhism. But diffculty making a living people ate secretly boar and venison meat. In the course of time, people ate beef secretly. The first sukiyaki store opened in Kyoto at the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate . Period replaced Meizi era. The Meiji emperor ate beef. He liked taste of sukiyaki . After that, Meizi emperor lifts the ban on eating beef. This incident triggered, people were allowed to eat beef publicly. In the west called “Sukiyaki”, In the east called “Gyunabe” popular all over Japan. Sukiyaki’s contents do not change now. It is thinly sliced beef cooked in iron plate, thick iron pan with bean curd, sliced onion, mushroom and other kind of seasonings. Then the beef and vegetables are picked directly from the pan by chopostick and eaten by dipping them into a small bowl containing raw egg. Sukiyaki became symbol of cultural enlightenment. And sukiyaki is loved by a lot of people now.

Preparation

Each Japanese region has preferred way of cooking sukiyaki. Japan can be devided into two regions. The big variation is between Kansai(western Japan) and Kanto(eastern Japan) In the Kanto(Tokyo) region is based on Gyunabe that was in fashion in Meiji period. Before cooking sukiyaki, people prepare the soup stock mixing a seasonings(soy sauce, sugar, sake and mirin) together. They then stew beef in it. In the Kansai region, people grill meat in the pan greased with lard. After that, they put the other ingredients over these, and the liquid is poured into the pan. They do not grill meat and the ingredients that make the meat tough, and they do not grill the meat and watery vegetables at a same time. This is the Kansai style of cooking sukiyaki. The border that is style if cooking sukiyaki is becoming unclear. Some people say that the border between eastern and western is in Aichi. But recently, ready-made stock, pre-mixed with seasoning used to flavor sukiyaki is sold all over Japan, so the border is not clear.

Ingredients

Chopped beef is popular for sukiyaki, although in the past, the country such as Hokkaido and Niigata, pork was also popular. Important ingredients are: Beef Broiled tofu(It is harder to boil down than tofu ) Negi(a type of scallion) Leafy vegetables such as shungiku(garland chrysanthemum) and cabbage. Mushrooms such as shiitake and enokitake Itokonnyaku or shirataki(They are made of konnyaku corm. It is effectible to toughen meat because they contain calcium.)

How to cook

First, cut ingredients such as vegetable and Tofu into bite-size pieces. Next, put a pot over the heat, and make thoroughly with lard. Then, put sugar on the grilled beef, and put soy source and sake. After that, put the other ingredients into the pot, and some water ooze out some from the vegetables, but you can put water, sake and mirin. It is up to you. Finally, eat after dip vegetables into beaten egg. Sukiyaki seasonings and the cooking way may vary depending up one’s taste and can be arranged accordingly. Keep in mind not to overcook the meat, since it become hard. The meat will be just right when they turns brown.

Sukiyaki in pop culture

Kyu Sakamoto is Japanese singer who sang “SUKIYAKI” in 1961.Japanese title is “UE O MUITE ARUKOU”. It means “look up when I walk”. In 1962 a British record company named his song “SUKIYAKI”. Lewis Benjamin, the managing director in the record company thought “UE O MUITE ARUKOU” is difficult to pronounce in English. Lewis Benjamin loved the taste of sukiyaki. He only knew the words “sukiyaki” and “sayonara” in Japanese. He thought “sayonara” is too dark for the title. So he named this song “SUKIYAKI”. The song attracted many foreign people heart. The song is loved by a lot of people in the world. In 1963 “SUKIYAKI” first entered the music hit chart in England. This song stayed on the hit chart for three months all over the England. This is the only song which reached NO1 hit on a chart in Japanese song. This song is still loved by many people. Sukiyaki represents Japanese food. Everyone loves sukiyaki. Even foreign people love the taste of sukiyaki. Sukiyaki fascinates many people like Lewis Benjamin. Sukiyaki is important food for representing Japan.

References

Sukiyaki. 日本文化いろは辞典. Retrieved on 2008 Sukiyaki. 日本の鍋料理. Retrieved on 25 June 2003 Chieko,Mukasa(2008). すき焼き道. Heibonsya,Tokyo.ISBN 978-4582854398, p.256 Seikou,Ito(1995). Sukiyaki. Syueisya,Tokyo. ISBN 978-4087741575, p.282 http://iroha-japan.net/iroha/B02_food/21_sukiyaki.html http://ishadow.nobody.jp/US-chart_4.htm http://jiten.cside3.jp/Uewomuite.htm