Japanese Nikujaga: The Best Meat And Potatoes Comfort Dish
I was constantly craving for comfort food when sheltering at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the dishes that I found myself making again and again is the Japanese Nikujaga Meat and Potatoes stew. It’s a hearty dish beef and potatoes dish, but it isn’t greasy nor does it sit on your stomach heavily. Nikujaga (肉じゃが) literally translate to “Meat Potatoes” – I love the balance of this particular meat and vegetables dish. The ingredient are simmered in a delicious dashi based broth.
What is a dashi broth? It is one of the most commonly used flavors within Japanese cuisine that imparts the “umami” taste. The best English equivalent word is savory. Dashi is typically made up of ingredients like Kombu kelp seaweed, katsuobushi bonito fish flakes, dried shiitake mushrooms, and dried sardines, strained together to make dashi, essentially a liquid form of umami! For convenience, I am using instant dashi for this recipe.
Read more about Dashi here from one of my favorite sites =>https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/dashi-japanese-stock.html
I was reading that the key for a successful nikujaga is not to overwhelm the dish with too much meat. Essentially the meat is used to flavor the veggies, to give it a satisfying balance. Meaty enough, yet not too much.
This recipe was adapted from the popular Just One Cookbook by Nami san. She has a very clear and easy to follow style, which I appreciate.
Ingredients for Japanese Nikujaga
1 large onion
3 large carrot
4 potatoes
1 lb thinly sliced beef chuck or rib eye
1 pack shirataki noodles
10 pieces sugar snap peas
1 Tbs vegetable oil
3 cup dashi
6 Tbs mirin
6 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs sake
2 Tbs sugar (adjust to suit taste)
In addition to that, you will need a large pot to cook the nikujaga.
Preparing the ingredients for Japanese Nikujaga
Let’s start by gathering all the ingredients. Next, put a pot of water to boil.
Then, make instant dashi stock (or prepared home made stock).
Next, prepare the ingredients. Start by remove strings from sugar snap peas. Set aside. Then, remove shirataki noodles from package, rinse and drain.
When the water is boiling, lightly blanch the sugar peas for 30 seconds and take them out. You want to retain their bright green color and not overcook them.
Then, using the same water, cook the shirataki noodles for 1 minute. Drain the water and cut the noodles in half. Set aside.
Next, cut the onion into wedges. Then, peel and cut the carrot lengthwise in half and chop into rolling wedges. This method is called rangiri.
Next, cut the potatoes into quarters and smooth the edges. If the pieces have sharp edges then they are likely to break into pieces during the cooking process from bumping into each other. This Japanese cutting technique is called mentori. Then, soak the potatoes in water to remove starch.
Potatoes with smooth edges, prepared using “Mentori” style Soak potatoes to remove starch
Finally, cut the sliced meat in half.
Putting the Japanese Nikujaga Together
In a large pot, heat oil on medium heat and sauté the onion until fragrant. Add meat and cook until it is no longer pink.
Next, add the potatoes, carrots, and shirataki noodles. Then pour in the dashi stock and all the seasonings and bring the entire pot to a boil.
Once the liquid is boiling, skim the surface to remove any foamy bits. Gently arrange to make sure all the ingredients are covered by the broth. Then, put on the lid and simmer on medium-low heat for 15 -20 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked.
When the veggies are done, turn off the heat and let it rest for about 30 minutes. At this point, you want to let the flavors soak into the ingredients. When it is almost ready for serving, toss in the sugar snap peas.
Taste the broth and make final adjustments before serving. And it is ready. Let’s eat! Itadakimasu!
Japanese Nikujaga: The Best Meat and Potatoes Comfort Dish
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 3 large carrot
- 4 potatoes
- 1 lb thinly sliced beef chuck or rib eye
- 1 pack shirataki noodles
- 10 pieces sugar snap peas
- 6 mushrooms
- 1 Tbs vegetable oil
- 3 cup dashi stock
- 6 Tbs mirin
- 6 Tbs soy sauce
- 4 Tbs sake
- 2 Tbs sugar
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Put a pot of water to boil. Make instant dashi stock.
- Remove string from peas. Set aside. Remove shirataki noodles from package, rinse and drain. Cook the sugar pea for 30 seconds and take them out. Cook the shirataki noodles for 1 minute. Remove from water and cut in half. Set aside.
- Cut the onion into wedges. Peel and cut the carrot lengthwise in half and chop into rolling wedges. Cut the potatoes into quarters and smooth the edge of potatoes. Soak the potatoes in water to remove starch. Cut the sliced meat in half.
- In a large pot, heat oil on medium heat and sauté the onion until fragrant. Add meat and cook until it is no longer pink. Add the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and shirataki noodles.
- Add dashi stock and all the seasonings and bring the entire pot to a boil. Once boiling, skim to remove foam. Make sure all the ingredients are flat and most of ingredients are covered by the broth.
- Cover the pot and simmer on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked. When the veggies are done, turn off the heat and let it rest for about 30 minutes. At this point, you want to let the flavors soak into the ingredients.
- When it is almost ready for serving, toss in the sugar snap peas. Taste the broth and make one last adjustment before serving. And it is ready. Let's eat! Itadakimasu!
Notes
Recipe adapted: https://www.justonecookbook.com/nikujaga/
More Fab Food Ideas:
Do you know that you can make tortilla from scratch? Here’s my post on how to make them at home => Back to Basics: How to Make Delicious Soft Flour Tortillas The wonderful thing is that you can make a dozen tortillas in under an hour.
If you are in a hurry and want to make a quick nutritional snack, check out my recipe on Strawberry Craisin Oatmeal Cup: It’s Petite and Amazing. This treat whips up in under an hour, 45 minutes to be precise. 😁
If you are looking for something different for dinner, please check out => How to make Fan-Shaped Eggplant Parmesan
