Hashida "Hatch" Kenjiro's Nikujaga, or Japanese-Style Beef and Potatoes

Prep Time: 45 minutes Serves: 2 people (or one with leftovers)

- Ingredients:

2 Yellow onions 2 Medium potatoes 4-5 Green beans 500g Thinly sliced beef 1/2 Cup sake 1/2 Cup soy sauce 1/2 Cup sugar 1/2 Cup mirin 400ml Dashi broth 1 Tbsp olive oil

- Practicalities

1 Sharp knife 1 Sauté pan 1 Medium sized sauce pan 1 Medium sized pot

The vegetables should all be readily available at any supermarket or wet market in town. Most super- markets sell packaged, pre-sliced beef. Even the cuts that they sell for hot pot will work just ne. Mirin is a sweet rice wine and dashi is a seaweed based stock. Both are very common ingredients in Japanese cooking and can be found at export grocery stores like City'super or Parkson's supermarket.

- Instructions

1. Peel and cut the onions and potatoes into uniformly sized chunks. 2. Trim the green beans and cut them in half. 3. Boil the potatoes in a medium sized pot. 3. Add the dashi broth, sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar to a medium sized sauce pan. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Simmer. 4. Coat the bottom of a sauté pan with olive oil and sauté the onions over medium heat. 5. To help soften them up, spoon in some of the dashi mixture and allow the the onions to simmer. 6. When the potatoes are thoroughly soft, drain them. 7. Place them back in the pot, add the dashi mixture and the onions to the pot and simmer. 8. Sauté the green beans for a few minutes and add to the potatoes and onions. 9. Sauté the beef. As the fat renders out, you can sop up the grease with a paper towel held by chop- sticks. 10. Lower the heat. Spoon in some of the dashi mixture and simmer for a few minutes. 11. Add the beef to the potatoes and onions. Simmer for a few more minutes. 12. Spoon the potatoes and onions into a large bowl. 13. Top it o with the beef. 14. Garnish with the green beans. 15. Leave the dashi mixture behind. 16. Enjoy.

If you've got any leftovers put them in the refrigerator. The following day the potatoes should have thoroughly absorbed any excess liquid, and the avors will be all the more integrated. Here's some- thing you can do with that...

1. Put the contents in a bowl and mash them up. 2. Toast two slices of bread. 3. Smear some mayonnaise or any preferred condiment onto the bread. 4. Add your mashed nikujaga to the bread, and you've got a Japanese sandwich.