Beef and spinach sukiyaki

7
Points®
Total Time
48 min
Prep
18 min
Cook
30 min
Serves
8
Difficulty
Easy
The Japanese consider sukiyaki an ideal dish to serve when friends or relatives get together because it's easy one-pot cooking. Bring out the chopsticks when you sit down to enjoy this popular dish. Serve it in shallow soup bowls and be sure to sip all the flavorful broth from the bowl after you devour the noodles, beef, and vegetables. Sake is a Japanese wine made from fermented rice is served hot (warmed to around 100°F) in small porcelain cups or chilled without ice. If you do not have sake, substitute a dry white wine or vermouth here. Leftover sukiyaki reheats well, so consider yourself lucky if you have some. Just bring everything just to a gentle simmer in a saucepan to warm through to enjoy again.

Ingredients

Uncooked capellini

8 oz, or angel hair pasta

Vegetable oil

4 tsp

Sugar

2 Tbsp

Uncooked trimmed beef tenderloin

1 pound(s), trimmed of all visible fat, cut lengthwise in half, then cut crosswise into very thin slices

Cooked green cabbage

½ pound(s), Napa, cut into 1-inch pieces

Scallions

7 medium, or 1 bunch, cut into 1-inch pieces

Mushrooms

6 oz, white, halved, or quartered if large

Reduced sodium chicken broth

1 cup(s)

Sake

cup(s), or dry white wine, or dry vermouth

Less sodium soy sauce

¼ cup(s)

Firm tofu

½ pound(s), cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes

Spinach

6 oz, fresh baby leaves

Instructions

  1. Cook the pasta according to package directions in a large heavy pot; drain. Rinse under cold running water; drain again. Wipe the pot dry.
  2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in the same pot over medium heat. Sprinkle the sugar evenly in the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar turns caramel-colored, about 2 minutes. Add half of the beef and cook over medium-high heat until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer the beef to a plate. Repeat with the remaining beef. Reduce the heat to medium to prevent the sugar from burning, if necessary.
  3. Return the beef to the pot along with the pasta, cabbage, scallions, mushrooms, broth, sake, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tofu and spinach; cook until the spinach wilts, about 1 minute. Yields generous 1 cup per serving.