Sukiyaki (鋤焼; or more commonly すき焼き; [sɯ̥kijaki]) is a Japanese dish that is prepared and served in the nabemono (Japanese hot pot) style.
It consists of meat (usually thinly sliced beef) which is slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. The ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs after being cooked in the pot, and then eaten.
Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: washoku) is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Side dishes often consist of fish, pickled vegetables, tamagoyaki, and vegetables cooked in broth. Common seafood is often grilled, but it is also sometimes served raw as sashimi or as sushi. Seafood and vegetables are also deep-fried in a light batter, as tempura. Apart from rice, a staple includes noodles, such as soba and udon. Japan also has many simmered dishes, such as fish products in broth called oden, or beef in sukiyaki and nikujaga.
Historically influenced by Chinese cuisine, Japanese cuisine has also opened up to influence from Western cuisines in the modern era. Dishes inspired by foreign food—in particular Chinese food—like ramen and gyōza, as well as foods like spaghetti, curry and hamburgers, have been adapted to Japanese tastes and ingredients. Traditionally, the Japanese shunned meat as a result of adherence to Buddhism, but with the modernization of Japan in the 1880s, meat-based dishes such as tonkatsu and yakiniku have become common. Since this time, Japanese cuisine, particularly sushi and ramen, has become popular globally.
View the full Wikipedia page for Japanese cuisineKobe beef (神戸ビーフ, Kōbe bīfu) is Wagyu beef from the Tajima strain of Japanese Black cattle, raised in Japan's Hyōgo Prefecture around Kobe city, according to rules set out by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association. The meat is a delicacy, valued for its flavour, tenderness and fatty, well-marbled texture. Kobe beef can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, sashimi, and teppanyaki. Within Japan, Kobe is one of the three Sandai Wagyū, the "three big beefs", along with Matsusaka beef and Ōmi beef or Yonezawa beef.
Kobe beef is also called Kōbe-niku (神戸肉; "Kobe meat"), Kōbe-gyū or Kōbe-ushi (神戸牛; "Kobe cattle") in Japanese.
View the full Wikipedia page for Kobe beef