How to Make Nikujaga (Meat and Potato Stew) Easily Using Mentsuyu

If you want to make authentic Japanese food, you need to prepare several kinds of seasonings, so it’s hard. In this recipe, I will introduce how to make delicious Japanese food easily using “mentsuyu” (“めんつゆ” in Japanese) which can be purchased at convenience stores in Japan.

Total Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

Serves 3-4:

100g beef flank (or pork)
2 or 3 potatoes, cut into chunks
1 carrot, cut into chunks
1 onion, cut into chunks
50 ml mentsuyu
250 ml water
1 tbsp vegetable oil (or olive oil)

If available:

1 tbsp cooking sake
1 pack of kinusaya (The green color makes it colorful.)
1 pack of shirataki (konnyaku) noodles

Method

1. Put the potatoes and carrots in a plastic bag and microwave (500W) for 6 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan and stir fry the vegetables.
3. When the onion has wilted, add the meat (and sake: it will soften the meat) and stir fry until cooked through.
4. When the meat changes color, add the mentsuyu and water (if available, kinusaya and shirataki), cover with a lid (if possible, a drop lid), and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.