Nikujaga - Japanese Comfort Food for Winter

Nikujaga (肉じゃが) is a Japanese stewed dish that is made mainly with thin-sliced beef/pork with potato. It is one of the most popular comfort food in Japan. 1 in 3 Japanese people probably answers with Nikujaga if you ask them what is their favorite mom’s taste/comfort food 🙂

My husband loves Nikujaga as well as I do. And actually, when we started dating back in Japan almost 15 years ago (OMG!), he made me Nikujaga and I was impressed as it was really good! Unfortunately, the recipe which he was using is missing so we haven’t had it for a long time now, but when I make one with my recipe, he really enjoys it and it gives him a smile 🙂 He says Nikujaga is one of the best Japanese comfort food for him as well 🙂 He’s American, but maybe he has become a bit Japanese by living in Japan, haha.

For the ingredients, this time I used, were potatoes, thinly sliced beef, carrots, yellow onions, Edamame, and Shirataki (しらたき) which is basically a noodle version of Konnyaku (こんにゃく, konjac yam cake).

Shirataki Konjac Noodles — Shirataki Konnyaku Noodles – EATwithOHASHI.com

Shirataki Konnyaku Noodles – EATwithOHASHI.com

Seasonings for this dish are soy sauce, Sake, Mirin, sugar, and Shiro-Dashi. Nikujaga is actually a quite easy dish to make and there are basically 3 steps to make. First, stir fry the vegetables (except Edamame) and the meat with a little amount of oil, then add water to it to boil. Once it starts boiling, add the seasonings (soy sauce, Sake, Mirin, etc.) to it and keep it simmer until the vegetables become soft enough. Hmmm, thinking about the taste of Nikujaga makes me smile as it’s really comforting to me 🙂