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Nikujaga (Simmered Beef and Potatoes)

Nikujaga (Simmered Beef and Potatoes) reads umami 5.6, sweetness 5.0 and salinity 4.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Japanese main, about 1 hr 1 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 5.6 · Sweetness 5.0 · Salinity 4.6 · Nutty 3.6 · Funk & Ferment 2.9 · Richness 2.9 · Allium 2.8 · Fruity 1.4 · Floral 1.3 · Earthy 1.3 · Bitterness 0.8 · Herbaceous 0.6 · Sourness 0.6

What's in it (12)

Time & effort: about 1 hr 1 min (31 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 36.6 kcal, 1.2 g protein, 0.7 g fat, 6.7 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. Soak the potato chunks in cold water for 10 minutes and drain them; this rinses off loose surface starch so the broth stays clear rather than going gluey.
  2. Heat the sesame oil in a heavy pan over medium heat and cook the beef, turning, for 2 minutes, just until it loses its raw colour. Add the onion wedges, carrot, potato and shirataki and turn everything in the fat for 3 minutes more so each piece is glossed.
  3. Pour in the dashi and sake, bring to a boil and skim the grey foam off carefully for the first minute. Add the sugar and mirin only, then lay a drop lid (otoshibuta) directly on the surface of the food, or a circle of parchment with a coin-sized hole cut in the middle. The drop lid keeps a shallow amount of liquid circulating over everything without knocking the potatoes apart.
  4. Simmer at a lazy bubble for 10 minutes. Now add the soy sauce and simmer 12 to 15 minutes more, until a bamboo skewer slides into a potato with no resistance and the liquid has fallen to about a third of its original depth. The order matters: sugar first and soy later is the sa-shi-su-se-so rule, and it exists because salt tightens vegetables and stops sugar entering.
  5. Turn off the heat and leave the pan, drop lid still on, for at least 20 minutes. Simmered dishes take up their seasoning as they cool, not as they cook, and this rest is the difference between potatoes that taste of broth and potatoes sitting in it.
  6. Reheat gently, scatter the blanched snow peas over and serve warm rather than hot, with rice and a bowl of miso soup.
  7. Substitutions: rib (komagire) can stand in for the very thinly sliced beef chuck; niban dashi can stand in for the ichiban dashi.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.