Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki ingredients, thinly sliced prime beef

Beef is very expensive in Japan. When there is a celebration, a big treat definitely thought of  is sukiyaki.

In Japan, there was no custom of eating meat. In the 1860s, when Japan was opened to foreigners, new cooking styles were also introduced. Cows, milk, meats, and eggs became widely used, and sukiyaki was the most popular way to serve them. It was not until then that restaurants serving sukiyaki were introduced. At that time, this dish was called sukiyaki in the Kansai region (centered around Osaka Prefecture) but was known as gyunabe (beef pot) in the Kanto region (centered around Tokyo).  Later, the term sukiyaki became commonly used.

Ready made sukiyaki sauce can be purchased

You haven’t done justice to yourself, traveling in Japan and not experiencing being served and eating/enjoying sukiyaki.

I started writing a recipe for this most popular Japanese dish, which is also well-known internationally. However,  half way through, I decided it best to borrow the instruction of an expert, the humor of  a ‘dog’ and magic of internet/Youtube.

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Americans (USA) who remember 1963, when hearing  ’sukiyaki‘, flash back to the first thing which comes to mind, the song, ‘Sukiyaki!  Kyu Sakamoto (December, 10 1941 ~August 12 1985) was a Japanese singer and actor, best known outside of Japan for his international hit song ‘Sukiyaki‘, which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies. It reached number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100 in June 1963 and was the only Japanese-language song to ever do so. It also went to number 18 on the R&B Charts.  Kyu-chan, as he was known in Japan, died in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 on August 12, 1985, along with 520 other passengers. It was the deadliest single-aircraft accident in history. Before the aircraft hit the ground, he was able to write a farewell note to his wife, Yukiko Kashiwagi.

Kyu Sakamoto performs ‘Ue o Muite Arukō’ (上を向いて歩こう), known as ‘Sukiyaki’ in the USA

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