Easy Sukiyaki Recipe (Japanese Hot Pot) At Home

Our sukiyaki recipe makes putting together a warming Japanese hot pot at home easy. The vegetables and meat are simmered in a rich, flavourful broth made from soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, which you can dilute with kombu dashi, too.

Sukiyaki tastes sweet, savoury and rich thanks to the simmered meat and veggies in a soupy, bold soy-based broth. The key dipping sauce is usually a beaten raw egg, which adds sweetness you enjoy with beef and vegetables.

Nabemono offers a unique dining experience. We’ve had this particular Japanese hot pot many times in Japan. Apart from its impeccable flavours, we love its versatility and comfort. 

Our traditional sukiyaki recipe is the Kanto version without grilled meat and focuses on a bolder, sweeter soy-based broth. We’ll show you the toppings we typically add, but you can incorporate other toppings you like. We’ll also show you how you can control the sweetness of the broth.

Jump to:

• Beef Sukiyaki Ingredients
• How To Make Sukiyaki Sauce
• Do you need a Japanese sukiyaki pot?
• Sukiyaki Recipe (Japanese Hot Pot)
• Cooking Tips
• What Do You Eat Sukiyaki With?
• Variations
• Kansai Vs Kanto Sukiyaki
• Sukiyaki Vs Shabu Shabu

Beef Sukiyaki Ingredients

Here are the basic sukiyaki ingredients that you’ll need:

• ½ whole Napa cabbage
• 150 g Enoki mushrooms
• 1 cup Shiitake mushrooms
• 250 g broiled tofu
• 400 g thinly sliced beef
• 100 g Shirataki noodles
• Chopped green onions (for garnish)

To make sukiyaki sauce (also known as warishita):

• 120 ml sake
• 120 ml mirin
• 120 ml soy sauce
• 40 g sugar

To make kombu dashi (optional):

• water
• kombu sheet (3x3 inches)

Beef

The beef is our recipe's highlight, so we recommend using high-quality meat for the best results. The meat is not marinated, so the quality will stand out in the broth. 

The meat must be well-marbled, so the fat will become tender when you eat it. Otherwise, it will have tough and chewy meat.

We like to use meat from Asian or Japanese grocery stores labelled "Sukiyaki beef". These are typically sold as thin rolls of meat that have a higher amount of marbling.

However, if you can’t find this you can also thinly slice ribeye or chuck eye roll. Both have a good balance of fat and lean meat with fantastic marbling that’s ideal for our recipe.

Napa Cabbage

Napa cabbage is a Chinese cabbage that adds crispness to the dish with a slightly sweet taste on its own. This makes the vegetable versatile enough to be used in many Japanese dishes. We love adding lots of this to our Japanese hot pot meals as it soaks up the broth and tastes delicious.

You can find it in grocery stores called 'Napa Cabbage' or its Japanese name, 'Hakusai'. Alternatively, you can use bok choy, endives, and other cabbages like red and savoy cabbage.

Enoki Mushrooms

Enoki mushrooms mainly work as a textural addition to hot pot dishes like our nabemono recipe. This is because they are super mild in flavour and almost taste like nothing but have a pleasantly chewy texture. They are usually white or cream-coloured with long, thin stalks and tiny caps.

If you can’t find this mushroom, some good alternatives would be button, portobello, and oyster mushrooms, which are as versatile. However, these mushrooms are more earthy and meaty than enoki mushrooms. You can also try using shiitake mushrooms to add more smoky and earthy flavours to the dish.

Tofu

We highly recommend grilled or yaki tofu for your sukiyaki because it is denser and firmer than regular tofu. This trait is essential to prevent it from crumbling easily in the broth. This also means it can withstand long hours of cooking without crumbling. Not to mention, that it would absorb the broth and sauces well since it is porous.

Otherwise, you can use extra firm or firm tofu. You can also get regular tofu and grill it on a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for about 1-2 minutes. Just make sure that each side of the tofu is slightly brown.

Shirataki Noodles

Our nabemono recipe adds shirataki noodles, which are translucent, gelatinous Japanese noodles made out of konjac yam. They either come in dry or wet forms in Asian grocery stores. Drained and dry roasted shirataki noodles pair well with this hot pot because they have a neutral taste and a paste-like consistency. It usually comes in very long strands, so we like to snip them in half or into thirds so that they are easier to eat.

Alternatively, you can substitute the shirataki noodles with wheat udon noodles or kiri mochi. These alternatives are higher in carbs and will soak up the broth and reduce it, so we typically only add them at the end of the meal.

You can even replace Shirataki noodles with your preferred instant noodles. However, usually, when we can't find shirataki noodles, we simply omit them from our dishes.

Eggs

The egg used in sukiyaki is not meant to be cooked. It's meant to be enjoyed raw as a dipping sauce instead. However, this is optional, considering that consuming raw or undercooked eggs can potentially make you ill.

Generally, eating raw eggs in Japan is safe. Although, this might not be true in other countries, where you should use pasteurised eggs instead. If you can't find them, you can pasteurise the eggs yourself at home using sous vide. However, we understand the sous vide method isn't accessible to most people and takes more than an hour.

So we recommend making poached eggs or onsen tamago to dip your meat into the runny egg yolks. While it’s not exactly the same as raw egg, you’ll be able to safely to dip your meat into the yolk.

How To Make Sukiyaki Sauce

Our recipe follows the Kanto-style sukiyaki, so we’re making warishita for the sauce. You will need only four sukiyaki sauce ingredients: soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar.

Making it from scratch on your own is simple. First, you must boil the sake and mirin beforehand to let the alcohol evaporate. Then, add sugar and soy sauce to the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Due to the added sugar, the sauce should be slightly syrupy and thicker than regular soy sauce.

You can also add some kombu dashi to your sauce. However, we recommend separating the kombu dashi from the main ingredients to make the sukiyaki broth last longer. Therefore, we suggest that you make the broth without kombu dashi and only add it when you want it.

Do you need a Japanese sukiyaki pot?

Traditionally, this Japanese one-pot meal is prepared in a shallow cast iron pot that’s placed over a gas stove at the table. While a Japanese sukiyaki pot isn’t necessary to make nabe, we recommend getting one if you want the whole experience of cooking at the dining table.

Use an electric sukiyaki pot for the best cooking results. It's an excellent purchase if you intend to cook many hot pot foods. We use ours for holding dinner parties, too. 

Alternatively, a traditional nabe pot with a stove base would be the best option for those on a budget. This will also be a great option to make the most authentic version of the Japanese hot pot. While you can use a nabe pot, note that you can't use a donabe to cook this dish. It cannot sustain high heat since it is not made for grilling and searing meat.

However, you can also just get a portable induction countertop and cook the dish in a regular pot. We recommend it if you rarely make hot pots but want quick access to them whenever you want.

Cooking Tips

Here are some of our best cooking tips to help you make this Japanese hot pot at home. 

How to slice meat thinly for Japanese hot pot

We found that the easiest way to slice the meat thinly at home is to first freeze the meat for 30 minutes.

Then, take the meat out and slice it against the grain into ⅛-inch slices with a gentle sawing motion. Once, the meat hardens slightly it will be easier to cut thinly. However, you don't want it to be ice cold either. The meat must be firm yet soft enough for the knife to cut through smoothly.

How to make sukiyaki with chicken

Chicken is not commonly used in making this Japanese one-pot meal. However, you can still make the dish work with chicken by adding additional steps.

Chicken generally takes much longer to cook. So, just placing raw chicken as how you would add raw beef slices into the broth will not work. Instead of slicing it thinly, we typically like to cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Next, place the pieces into a pot of boiling water and let it lightly cook until the water turns white.

Alternatively, you can also marinate 400g chicken with 3 tablespoon of soy sauce for more flavour and then grill it. For either method, you'd want to make sure the chicken is fully cooked before adding it to the broth.

Once all the other ingredients are ready, pour the sauce into a pot and bring it to a boil. Add the ingredients, including the chicken pieces and let it cook together for about 5-10 minutes. Finally, your chicken Japanese hot pot should be ready to enjoy.

How to make it vegan

Making vegan Japanese hot pot is relatively easy as most ingredients used are vegetarian and vegan-friendly, except the meat and egg dip. It may be the star of the dish but you can still make an excellent vegan version of nabemono.

We suggest replacing sliced beef with soy meat or other plant-based substitutes you prefer. This will add a great chewy texture to the overall dish.

Adding more tofu and meaty mushrooms to the dish would also work if you don't want to use mock meat. The sauce is vegan, so there's no need to worry about it.

How to make sukiyaki sauce without sake

You can also follow our sukiyaki sauce recipe without sake and replace it with alternatives like dry sherry or white wine. For a non-alcoholic substitute, we recommend entirely replacing the portion of sake with mirin. It will turn out slightly sweeter and lack the acidity of the sake.

We don't recommend replacing it with any type of vinegar, as the sauce will turn out too sour.

Using Store-Bought Sauce

Despite the ease of making the sauce from scratch, you can also use premade sukiyaki sauce. This would save more time and make the dish's preparation effortless. Plus, mirin and sake can be pricey in certain countries. So unless you plan on using the ingredients regularly, it might be more convenient and cheaper to use store-bought sauce instead. The only downside is that you will have less control over the flavouring of the sauce.

When using a sukiyaki sauce bottle, we recommend using about 300-350ml of it to make the dish. Watch the amount you put into the dish, as too much sauce can make it salty. You can dilute the sauce by adding water or dashi if this happens. Adding more vegetables to the dish to absorb the salt would work too.

Besides that, the store-bought sauce also allows you to use it for other dishes. For instance, you can use it as a condiment and to braise meats and vegetables. Furthermore, you can use it as an alternative for other dishes' sauces like Oyakodon.

Other alternatives for a sukiyaki dipping sauce are Ponzu sauce, sesame sauce, and Yuzu Kosho. Ponzu sauce tastes citrusy and is a common alternative dipping sauce for the hot pot in Japan. Sesame sauce is creamy and has a nutty flavour that pairs well with the dish. Lastly, Yuzu Kosho adds a unique and bold taste to the hot pot with its spicy and citrus flavours.

What Do You Eat Sukiyaki With?

For the perfect hotpot experience, we recommend that you savour the beef on its own first. Then, enjoy it with other ingredients such as vegetables and tofu.

In Japan, people don't drink sukiyaki broth because the leftover broth can make another meal! It is highly versatile, and almost anything pairs well with the sukiyaki sauce taste. 

You can even save it for later by refrigerating it - it should last up to a week. Alternatively, you could freeze the broth for up to 3 months. Just make sure to separate it from the meat and veggies before freezing to avoid chewy meat and mushy veggies.

Here are some of the tasty ways Japanese people savour this yummy dish:

By Itself

The hot pot tastes impressive by itself, and you can enjoy it just as it is with no other side dishes. This will allow you to fully experience and savour the taste of the dish with no additional ingredients. This also works well for those planning to make it a light meal to enjoy anytime.

Dipping Sauce

The best way to enjoy your Japanese hot pot is by dipping it in raw egg. Japanese people love eating it this way because it gives a slightly sweet counterpoint to the salty broth. If you have pasteurised eggs, we highly recommend eating them this way to tone down the richness of the broth.

With Ponzu Sauce

Ponzu sauce is a popular Japanese condiment that you can enjoy with this hot pot dish. It gives off a citrusy aroma, but it will not make your dish taste lemony! Instead, it is a little bit tangy and will enhance the savoury taste of your nabemono.

With Teriyaki Sauce

Teriyaki sauce is an ingredient you can incorporate into any dish due to its versatility. Apart from enjoying the meat and veggies soaked in the sukiyaki soup, you can dip them in teriyaki sauce. It is the perfect sauce to add a sweet and tangy flavour to the meat.

With A Bowl Of Rice

You can enjoy the sweet and savoury dish with rice to make the meal more filling. Alternatively, you can use leftover broth and rice to make sukiyaki don for later. The preparation of the don is simple as well. You only need to reheat the sauce and serve it with a bowl of rice and some beaten eggs on top.

Add Udon Noodles At The End

Another popular way to enjoy your Japanese one-pot meal is to finish it with a different carbohydrate. Apart from rice, the Japanese often finish the dish with some udon noodles. In fact, these noodles are the best option as they can absorb the remaining sukiyaki sauce very well. Just let them soak in the broth, sprinkle some scallions, and enjoy your sukiyaki noodles.

In Japan, people usually serve their guests boiled or dry noodles to finish the meal. Furthermore, some restaurants in Japan require you to order udon noodles separately, while some prepare them as part of the meal.

Add Seasonal Ingredients

We suggest you add seasonal ingredients to the dish to make it more tasteful and exciting. This allows room for experimentation with other ingredients - you don't have to bore yourself with the same ingredients. For example, many restaurants in Japan use seasonal vegetables in making the dish, such as okra during summer and turnips in winter. 

Share It With Friends And Family

Whatever your preferred side dishes are, the best way to enjoy the dish is by sharing it. Instead of enjoying it alone, cook it and set it on the table in the middle. Prepare a few sets of chopsticks, bowls for the cooked food, and bowls for the raw eggs on the table. You may also need to prepare a few communal cooking chopsticks so everyone can cook the raw meat and veggies.

Variations

Interestingly, other countries have taken on sukiyaki and added a twist. For instance, Laos' version of it consists of bean thread noodles, thinly sliced beef, vegetables and other proteins like seafood. It also contains sauce made from coconut, tahini, peanut butter, fermented tofu, garlic, lime, sugar and some spices. Similarly, a raw egg is included in the beef broth. Apart from that, there is also a Thai version that only slightly resembles the Japanese version.

The famous Japanese nabemono that people love and enjoy today typically includes beef as its highlight ingredient. However, it is worth noting that this dish has many variations with different ingredients and names. For example, Uosuki is made using fish, and Kanisuki is made with crab.

We recommend starting with the traditional one. Then, try out these variations as they all have unique charms that thrill our palates. Also, there is no fixed rule as to the components of the dish. So, you can create your version of the dish once you've mastered the art of cooking the traditional one.

Kansai Vs Kanto Sukiyaki

Kansai style and Kanto style differ in the preparation method. One involves grilling meat, and the other doesn't. The Kansai sukiyaki consists of grilled meat but the Kanto style doesn't. The former combines different beef cuts, but the latter usually uses thinly sliced beef sirloin or ribeye.

Furthermore, the Kanto style has a significant component known as warishita. It is made by boiling ingredients like soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin. It can also be diluted with kombu dashi, as preferred by some. In our recipe, we do exactly this so we can drink the broth. Additionally, since the meat isn’t grilled, the Kanto style of the dish tends to be less greasy. 

Sukiyaki Vs Shabu Shabu

Sukiyaki has a distinctively sweeter broth base while shabu shabu has a lighter, more delicate taste. Shabu shabu broth typically only uses kombu dashi as the broth. Meanwhile, nabemono broth has kombu dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar that contributes to a stronger sweetness and savoury umami. 

Another difference between sukiyaki and shabu shabu is the sliced beef in sukiyaki is slightly thicker than that of shabu shabu.

While the beef in a Japanese hot pot is dipped in beaten raw egg, shabu shabu uses ponzu sauce and sesame sauce. Furthermore, Shabu Shabu is made using a donabe (Japanese clay pot) instead of a cast iron pot.

We’ve been looking for a way to recreate the same flavours at home without having to travel to Japan. So, we’re so glad we figured how to make this dish at home. If you love Japanese hot pot dishes, try making some of our favourite Shabu Shabu sauces next.