Sukiyaki and Holiday White Wine Sale

This recipe should be called "Japanese-American Style Sukiyaki" because it is stronger and deeper in flavor than the traditional style served in restaurants. My dad was born in Japan and I loved to watch him make it. Though he was a "issei" or first generation Japanese-American, like many immigrants, his dishes had a "nikkei" flavor to them--meaning that the traditional recipes had changed to reflect American tastes and available ingredients. At New Year's parties, mochi making gatherings, picnics and Buddhist Temple suppers, and at home, I remember cucumber with bay shrimp and fennel seed, teriyaki green beans, potato salad with chiso and other recipes common to the community but never found in a restaurant. I've thought that Japanese-American style recipes would create an interesting and unique cookbook, but a Google search yielded just a couple of links for "Japanese American cookbook". The first for Avenue Food has a post by Sarah Kiino that describes recipes from Japanese-American church cookbooks: "Of course, many of the "Japanese" recipes are about as Japanese as General Tso's Chicken is Chinese. They have Japanese elements, sure, but were created by Japanese Americans, often several generations removed from the homeland." From the National Association of Japanese Canadians forum: "there is a Japanese American culture and that culture is based not on exact rules, but on the recollections of what our Issei parents and grandparents interpreted of their homeland into their lives in America. Food products like they had back home were not available and so they tried to get something that was similar (like using yams in tempura instead of kabocha)." Only a few cookbooks are mentioned, and the National Japanese American Historical Society cookbook is no longer available on their site. Like the small Japantown in Denver, which used to house mom-and-pop groceries, restaurants and shops clustered around the Buddhist Temple, the cultural heritage of Japanese-American food may disappear, assimilated and dispersed into the mainstream.
Though Sukiyaki contains beef, this is one example of when a clean, crisp white wine pairs better than a red wine which would conflict with the deep flavors of soy sauce, ginger and sugar.

SUKIYAKI:
3 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 cup thinly sliced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. ginger, minced
1 lb. sliced steak (if you have an Asian market--use the very thinly sliced sukiyaki beef, otherwise slice filet mignon as thin as you can, or use lean ground beef made into small meatballs, see below* for more notes)
1/4 Mirin (Japanese cooking sake)
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar
2 cups vegetables, cut into bite size, such as bean sprouts, green beans, zucchini, broccoli, green pepper, baby corn, water chestnuts
2 cups coarsely chopped napa cabbage or bok choy
1 cake of tofu, cut into 1" cubes
1. In a wide, deep pan, cook the ginger, garlic and onion in the oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the onion is translucent, add the beef, browning on all sides. Then add the soy sauce, Mirin and sugar and stir gently to mix. Add the cut vegetables and stir, then cover the top of the beef and vegetable mixture with a "lid" of the napa cabbage or bok choy.
2. Turn the heat to low and simmer for approximately half an hour--until the vegetables are nearly cooked. Then stir the top layer of bok choy or cabbage in with the rest of the ingredients and add the tofu cubes. Cook another five minutes, stirring carefully so the tofu doesn't break apart (turning the ingredients with a wide spatula works well). Serve with hot Japanese rice and the 2007 Greenwood White Riesling. Serves 4. Leftovers can be piled onto a bowl of the leftover rice and reheated in the microwave to make a sukiyaki "donburi" or rice bowl. Top with kizami (red pickled grated ginger).

*Note on beef: if you can buy prepared Japanese sukiyaki beef, this is best. This can be found in most Asian markets and is made by freezing the steak, then using a machine to slice it very thin. If you have to slice your own steak, use filet mignon if you can afford it because less tender types of steak will become tough in the cooking. Another alternative that's easier on the budget is to use lean ground beef, shaped into small meatballs.

The 2007 Greenwood White Riesling is one of six white wines in this week's Online Grapevine special. The Online Grapevine changes each week, but always offers FREE wine shipping in the continental US. (sorry, Alaska and Hawaii)