Nikujaga

Nikujaga (Japanese Meat and Potatoes)

A comforting one-pot simmer of thinly sliced beef, potatoes, onions and carrots in a sweet-savory broth of soy sauce, mirin and dashi. It is the flavor of an everyday Japanese family dinner — humble, warming and deeply satisfying.

Prep

15 min

Cook

35 min

Total

50 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •400 g (14 oz) beef thinly sliced for sukiyaki or shabu-shabu, well-marbled, trimmed of heavy fat; freeze 20 min for easier slicing if cutting at home
• •600 g (1½ lb) potatoes, starchy, like russet or Yukon Gold; peel and cut into bite-sized pieces
• •1 large onion, sliced into 5 mm wedges along the grain
• •1 medium carrot, peeled and rolled-cut into thick pieces
• •800 ml (3½ cups) dashi, homemade from kombu and katsuobushi is traditional; instant dashi powder dissolved in water is the home-kitchen substitute
• •60 ml (¼ cup) soy sauce, Japanese shoyu
• •60 ml (¼ cup) mirin, hon-mirin; if using aji-mirin, reduce sugar slightly
• •30 ml (2 tbsp) sake, cooking sake; substitute dry sherry if unavailable
• •1 tsp sugar, adjust to taste
• •2 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
• •1 to taste salt
• •snap peas or shungiku (chrysanthemum greens), optional, added at the end for color and freshness

Steps

1. 1 Pat the sliced beef dry with paper towels. Peel the potatoes, cut into 4 cm bite-sized pieces, and soak in cold water for 10 minutes to remove excess starch; drain well.
2. 2 Cut the onion into 5 mm wedges. Peel the carrot and cut on a steep diagonal into thick pieces.
3. 3 In a heavy pot or donabe, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the beef and cook, breaking up any clumps, just until it loses its raw color — about 2 minutes. The beef does not need to brown deeply; the goal is to render a little fat and remove the raw scent.
4. 4 Add the onion and carrot and stir for 1 minute until the onion begins to turn translucent at the edges.
5. 5 Add the drained potatoes and toss gently to coat in the fat. Pour in the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar. The liquid should nearly cover the vegetables; add a splash of water if needed.
6. 6 Bring to a boil, then skim off any foam or rising fat with a fine mesh skimmer. Place an otoshibuta (drop lid) directly on the surface; if you do not have one, use a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit inside the pot, pierced with a few small holes. This keeps the upper ingredients submerged so they cook evenly.
7. 7 Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 20–25 minutes, until the potatoes are easily pierced with a wooden skewer and the broth has reduced to about one-third of its original volume. The liquid should look glossy and lightly syrupy, not watery.
8. 8 Remove the lid and increase the heat to medium-high for the final 2–3 minutes, letting the broth reduce further so it clings to the beef and vegetables as a thin glaze. Stir gently so the potatoes do not break apart.
9. 9 If using snap peas or shungiku, stir them in off the heat; the residual heat will wilt them in about 30 seconds.
10. 10 Taste and adjust with a small pinch of salt only if needed — the soy sauce typically provides enough seasoning. Doneness cue: the beef should be fully cooked with no pink remaining (internal temperature 71 °C / 160 °F), and the potatoes should be tender all the way through with no hard core.
11. 11 Ladle into shallow bowls so each serving gets a balance of beef, potatoes, onion and carrot with a spoonful of the glossy broth. Serve with steamed white rice and, in season, a side of takuan or lightly pickled greens.