Nagano's "apple-fed Shinshu beef" is black wagyu that meets standards set by a producers' association; the cattle are fed by-products of the prefecture's food industry, such as apple pomace from juice making and the soybean broth left from making miso and soy sauce. The fat has a low melting point and is known for melting smoothly in the mouth. This time I simmered it with maitake, leek and tofu in a pan on the table.
Ingredients
- Beef (Shinshu beef)
- Leek (naganegi)
- Maitake mushrooms
- Tofu
- Sukiyaki broth (warishita)
- Egg
How I made it
- Slice the leek and arrange it on a plate with the maitake
- Set the pan on a tabletop burner, heat the broth and simmer the beef in it
- Add tofu, maitake and leek, adding more beef as you go
- Dip in beaten egg and eat
Sources: go-nagano.net meats-town.com
This moment in the journey
Shinshu beef sukiyaki
Dinner was sukiyaki with beef from Nagano. I sliced a leek on the board and arranged maitake mushrooms and leek on a plate, then set the pan on a tabletop burner and laid the beef in the sweet soy broth.
Shinshu beef is a premium brand from Nagano, also known as "apple-fed beef" because the cattle are raised on feed that includes apple pomace. I cracked an egg into a bowl, beat it with chopsticks, dipped the simmered beef in it, and took a bite. It was astonishingly tender.
Into the pan went tofu, maitake and rounds of leek, with more beef added as I went. I like sukiyaki because you get to enjoy the cooking itself: the sound of the simmering, the meat changing color.
Watch this scene on YouTube4:49
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