Nikujaga: Japanese Meat and Potatoes Stew

Written by Lisa Shoreland

If anything could shake news of the popular uprisings in Egypt, Libya, and now Bahrain off the front page, it was the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami in Japan.

I was lucky–my home and family members are in southern Japan in Hiroshima Prefecture, far from the epicenter and subjected to little more than media panic and a few inches of higher water.

Still, some of my friends weren’t so lucky; a number of them have family in Sendai from whom they haven’t heard in days.

The weekend was nevertheless a nightmare for me. I lived in Japan for 19 years before attending college in the U.S. and graduating with a degree in creative writing.

I now live as a freelance writer in the States, always quietly longing for Japan–and oh, absolutely yes, the food.

After finding out that my family was largely unaffected by the quake and spending the weekend bawling my eyes out at the pictures of devastated villages, I decided it was time to get out of my swamp of used tissues and do something happy.

Now, more than ever, I needed some nikujaga.

Nikujaga translates to “meat and potatoes.” It’s basically a stew with meat, potatoes, and anything else the cook wants, plus the soy- and mirin-based broth.

It’s the quintessential comfort food of Japanese home cooking, and one of the things my mother knows to make me every time I scrounge up enough money to make a trip home.

You can find it in many izakaya, or bars, usually served with a bowl of “sticky” white rice and miso soup.

Fun fact: It was invented by chefs in the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 19th century in an attempt to mimic the beef stews served in the British Royal Navy.

Both Kyoto (of Kyoto Prefecture) and Kure (of Hiroshima Prefecture) claim to be the home of this dish.

Personally, I’ve got a soft spot for my hometown, but I couldn’t care less where the food historically came from, as long as it ends up in my stomach.

You can use ground beef for this recipe, but the Japanese typically use very thinly sliced varieties that are difficult to find in the States.

You can try cutting lean beef into small cubes, freezing them, then grinding with a food processor or grinder attachment if store-bought ground meat makes you uneasy.

Editor’s Notes:

While thinly sliced beef is the traditional meat in this Japanese meat-and-potatoes dish, you can easily make it vegetarian by substituting a plant-based meat substitute.

In the photos here and in the nikujaga web story, I’ve used Impossible beef and it’s just as comforting as the original.

As for the potatoes, they are frequently accompanied in this dish by other vegetables. Carrot coins, snow peas, snap peas, and green beans are the most common add-ins.

Nikujaga is also traditionally served with either white rice or konjac noodles, AKA shirataki noodles. Take your pick!

Nikujaga (Japanese Meat and Potatoes)

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

The traditional Japanese stew known as nikujaga, or meat and potatoes, is a quintessential comfort food of Japanese home cooking.

Print

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 pound yellow potatoes
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1 small carrot
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 12 ounces ground beef or plant-based beef

Optional additional vegetables

• 3 to 4 ounces green beans, snow peas, or snap peas, rinsed and trimmed

For serving

• cooked sticky white rice or shirataki noodles

Instructions

1. Whisk the soy sauce, mirin, and sugar together in a small bowl until the sugar is fully dissolved. Set aside.
2. Scrub the potatoes, but keep the skins on for their nutrients.
3. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized (about 1- to 1 1/2-inch) pieces, and place them in a bowl of water.
4. Peel the onion, trim off the root and stem ends, and slice into 1/2-inch strips.
5. Peel the carrot and slice into thin rounds.
6. Heat the sesame oil in a large (12-inch) skillet, sauté pan, or wok over medium heat.
7. Add the onions and carrot and cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes until the onions start to soften and brown at the edges.
8. Push the vegetables to the edge of the skillet or pan, and add the beef.
9. Pour the reserved soy sauce mixture over the beef and mix in, chopping the beef into small pieces.
10. Once the meat starts to brown, stir in the onions and carrots.
11. Drain the potatoes, reserving the water.
12. Add the potatoes and 1 1/2 cups of the reserved potato water to the pan.
13. Cover and and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender.
14. If you're adding any other green vegetables, add them after 10-12 minutes of cooking time so they remain crisp-tender.
15. Divide into 4 bowls and serve with rice or noodles.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 562Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 94mgSodium: 659mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 7gSugar: 12gProtein: 37g

The nutritional information above is computer-generated and only an estimate.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo!