ReTRo HouSeWiFe

RECIPES FROM THE RETRO HOUSEWIFE

MAIN COURSE

SUKIYAKI (Japanese Meat and Vegetable Dish), Japanese

I added the picture for some nice Japanese atmosphere! (It's a Poster Print of the Daigo Shrine in Kyoto, Japan..hope it helps!) This dish is cooked at the dining table! Fun Fun!

Ingredients

• ¼ lb. good grade suet
• 2 lbs. sukiyaki beef or sirloin steak, sliced very thin diagonally, about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide
• 1 medium dry onion, sliced thin
• 1 bunch green onions, cut in about 1-inch lengths, with tops
• 1 bunch Japanese greens, washed and drained. If small, use as is, but if long, cut in small 2 inch pieces.
• 1 square otofu (bean curd), sliced in 1-inch squares, ½ inch thick
• 1 can Ito konnyaku (Japanese vermicelli), drained

Variation:

• Celery, sliced diagonally into about ¼-inch strips
• 1 small can of bamboo shoots, sliced thin
• 1 small can of mushrooms
• Saifun (Chinese dry vermicelli), ¼ lb. soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes. Drain, and cut several times.
• 2 stalks slivered burdock. Soak in salt and vinegar water for 30 minutes to prevent discoloration of vegetable.
• Asparagus, sliced thin and diagonally
• Green beans, sliced thin and diagonally
• Green pepper
• Chinese cabbage

Seasoning

• ¼ cup sugar
• ¾ cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp. sherry wine or preferably, sake or mirin
• 1 tbsp. mono sodium glutamate

Preparation Instructions

Preferably prepare this dish at the table using hot plate or Japanese brazier. (These days we have gas connecting equipment instead of charcoal-burning type.)

Heat suet in the skillet. Add meat and brown lightly. Add ⅓ of the seasoning and cook 1 minute. Push meat to one side of the pan, and add the vegetables, according to the speed with which they cook, greens last. The various vegetables and meat should not be mixed together, but kept separately in the same pan. It looks more appetizing. Be careful not to overcook the vegetables as they should be crispy. Prepare ½ of the above recipe first and add remaining vegetables and meat gradually as you eat.

Season according to one's own taste by adding more sugar and soy sauce.

In Japan one cracks and stirs a raw egg in a small bowl, and dips the hot sukiyaki into it to cool the food before eating. Serves 4 to 6.

Contributed by Mrs. Sayde Kasuga, 1950

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I would like to thank Newspaperarchive for putting together such a fabulous service, and placing our Nation's history right at our fingertips. Many of these wonderful recipes are ones I stumbled upon quite by accident while sleuthing through the decades in my quest to assemble the world of the American housewife. RH

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Teppan Yaki Japanese Style Griddle 72"" W
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Gas Teppan Yaki Griddle smooth polished steel griddle plate. Manual controls, 30 000 BTU.

This is the only thing I could find for the "Japanese Brazier" she refers to. It seems a bit expensive for home use, so I am still looking. Also, the comment in the recipe about "These days we have gas connecting..." is the author's comment from the '50s and not mine. Finally, I have no idea what "Burdock" is...I am looking that up!