What makes it Japanese? DASHI, DASHI MAKES IT JAPANESE. Have you ever tried it? DASHI IS DASHI(T) YO! Guys, where can we find this?!?! Again, your asian supermarket! It comes in a box with packets of dashi powder or a small bottle of seasoning. And because this is a much lighter beef stew as compared to the Western sort, it is really easy to slurp it all up and giving you all the extra comfort you need in comfort food. Typically, it is made with beef and potatoes. But I hate potatoes so...I just threw in a lot of other vegetables.
You can basically make this very quickly, and just ignore it for the rest of the time it cooks (I recommend let it simmer for at least 45 minutes of till your vegetables are tender) while you attend your endless virtual meetings and the vegetables will only get more tender! That was what I did. But remember to check it once in awhile, I'm not going to be responsible for your absent-mindedness.
The method is real similar to the Western beef stew except we do without the tomatoes, the heavy beef broth...we keep it light, baby! If you already have a favourite beef stew recipe, just omit those above and substitute with dashi powder and chicken broth/water, and random sounding asian ingredients (like shimeiji mushrooms).
NIKU-JAGA | JAPANESE BEEF STEW
Serves: 4-5 pax
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 45mins
300g thinly sliced beef
1 medium onion, sliced
2 stems of leek, sliced
1 small packet of shimeiji mushrooms
1 medium carrot, peel and chopped into large pieces
1 medium radish, peeled and chopped into large pieces
900ml chicken broth/water
3 packets of dashi powder (or according to your dashi packet instructions)
4 tbsp light soya sauce
4 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp honey
Spring onion to garnish
1 packet of shirataki (optional. You can serve it with rice instead).
Rinse shirataki (it will stink but trust me, it goes away).
Boil water in a medium pot and add in the shirataki. Boil for about 5 minutes, drain water, remove shirataki from pot and set aside.
Broth
In a large pot, add a little olive oil and saute onions till slightly brown. Cover with a lid to help it cook faster.
Add in sliced beef and stir-fry till brown.
Add in all other vegetables and stir it together!
Then, pour in chicken broth, dashi powder, light soy sauce, mirin and honey.
Bring the broth to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are soft enough to your liking. You can leave it longer if you like, the vegetables and meat will just be more melt-in-the-mouth.
Add shirataki into the broth right before serving or place the shirataki in bowls and pour the broth over.
SERVE AND EAT NOW. GO.