Japanese Beef and Potato Stew (Nikujaga)

Last week I made J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Japanese Beef and Potato Stew (Nikujaga) recipe from The Wok.

The soup was good. It very much tasted like a Western stew with a Japanese broth. 3 stars ★★★☆☆

Last week I made J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Japanese Beef and Potato Stew (Nikujaga) recipe from The Wok.

Kenji introduces this as “a conscious effort by Japanese naval chefs to create a version of the beef stew served to the British navy.“

Slivered onion is sautéed for a minute, and then ground beef is added. All that cooks until the beef is mostly done.

Carrots, potatoes, and shirataki noodles are tossed in. I had a harder time finding shirataki noodles. For Spicy Shirataki and Cucumber Salad I found them at Publix alongside the tofu, but Publix no longer carries those noodles. They do carry a different brand, Miracle Noodles, on the pasta aisle. It’s not advertised as shirataki, but is konjac.

Dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar are added, and it’s all brought to a simmer. Kenji calls for an otoshibuta like with the simmered daikon.

Once the vegetables are tender, peas are stirred in.

The soup was good. It very much tasted like a Western stew with a Japanese broth. We don’t make beef strew often, but I’d be up for making this one. It was nice not needing a long cook time.

A photo of a bowl of the finished stew. Chunks of potato and carrot poke above the broth and peas. Some bits of ground beef are also visible.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.