Yakiniku Sauce Recipe

Yakiniku Sauce Recipe for Japanese Barbecue

I love Yakiniku.

Even the word can get a Japanese wagyu lover very excited.

Tender slices of beef that you grill at the table and dip in an addictively yummy sauce.

Since going out to a yakiniku restaurant (such as Gyu-kaku) does not always fit the family budget, we do it at home.  Easy.  Cheap.  Yum.

But now we live in Australia, one little bottle of yakiniku sauce costs $5 to $7.  Ouch.  

There is a better way.

Yes! I did it.  I made a recipe for Gyu-kaku Yakiniku Sauce (tare).

I read the ingredients listing on my bottle of Gyu-kaku Yakiniku tare/sauce,  and through trial and error and many, many comparison taste tests, I replicated it.

I am pretty impressed with myself and I hope you will be too when you taste this stuff.

Gyu-kaku Yakiniku Sauce Recipe 焼角 焼肉タレ

1/3 cup Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce such as Kikkoman)

1/4 cup Water

1 Tbsp Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

2/3 cup Sugar

1-2 cloves of Garlic, crushed

A little sesame oil

1-2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds (Irigoma) (ground if you prefer more flavour)

Ground Black Pepper, to taste 

1.  Place sesame oil and crushed garlic in a saucepan. Sauté gently over low heat 1 min.  

2. Add all other ingredients in a saucepan and gently bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.  Simmer very gently 5 min until it just starts to thicken.

Done.  Too easy.

This recipe makes about 250ml of Yakiniku Tare.  It keeps, refrigerated, for...ever.  (although we use it up in about 3 Yakiniku sessions.)

This is how we do Yakiniku in the restaurant, on a wire mesh over hot coals:

As well as the Karubi beef, we also had Eringi mushrooms and Piiman (like small and very tender, thin-skinned bell peppers) that you can see in my photo above.  Fresh shiitake mushrooms also go awesomely.

 For more ideas of Meat and Vegetables that can be used, here are my previous posts on Yakiniku:

Our Home is a Yakiniku Restaurant

Gyutan Yakiniku

...And this is how we do Yakiniku at home on a frypan at the table:

Wagyu is too expensive for my family's regular meals (except special occasions) so I bought a bag of frozen beef belly slices from the local Korean grocery store.  Don't worry about all that fat on there, most of it melts away when you cook it.  Soooo yummy!

The other meat I used here was some rib-eye fillet steak, which I sliced to half the usual thickness, and into pieces about 4x7cm.  You might see me at the butcher or supermarket picking out the most marbled tray of rib eye fillet.  

Both of these wagyu alternatives were delicious and about a third of the price of wagyu!

If you have a health grill, even better.  I just used a frypan this time because it is so much easier to wash up.

I told you.  I love easy.

The sauce served in Gyu-kaku Yakiniku Restaurants is so popular it is sold in supermarkets in Japan:

And now it is made in your kitchen (^_^)~*

You're Welcome!

❤️

Nikujaga Recipe

A lady who wants to impress a potential husband will make for him the most basic of home-style Japanese cooking - Nikujaga.  If she gets the perfect balance of flavours to suit his taste, then it's a match and he'll fall in love.

♡

In spite of its legendary powers, nikujaga (meaning meat-potato) is the simplest meal to make.

Meat, potatoes, onions and some carrots.

You're done.

Some people use beef, some use pork.  I generally use beef, however this time I tried pork.  

Ito-konnyaku is also often included, but this time I used a block of konnyaku.

I love Shimeji Mushrooms so I threw some in.

Nikujaga Recipe (serves 2~3)

• 150g Thinly sliced beef or pork
• 2-3 Potatoes (Cut into 4ths or if large, 8ths)
• 1-2 Onions (sliced)
• 1 Carrot (sliced into chunks - see here how I sliced carrots for cream stew)

• 4 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Mirin (or replace with 1 extra tsp sugar)
• 2 Tbsp Sake, optional
• 1 Cup boiling water
• Either ~3g Katsuobushi or 1 tsp dashi powder

1. Heat a little oil in a saucepan or wok.  Stir-fry the meat and onions for a couple of minutes.  
2. Add potatoes and stir-fry a little.
3. Add all the other ingredients except carrots.  Add carrots 5 min later.  Simmer for a further 20 min.

Test to see if it's done by poking a potato with a chopstick.  The chopstick should easily poke through the potato.

DONE!

Serve in individual bowls with a bowl of rice on the side and, if you like, miso soup and a leafy salad.

Actually the real reason I made nikujaga tonight was that my little boy wanted to cut carrot flowers, and kept pulling the carrots out of the fridge.  I gave in, and as you can see, we had carrot flowers.  

(that's not the usual way to cut carrots for nikujaga)

The pork I used this time was not ideal actually.  

Should have used the paper-thin stuff, or used beef like I usually do and stewed it longer.

Gyutan Yakiniku

Gyu-tan is one of my favorite cuts for Yakiniku.  Gyutan means beef tongue.  People travel to Sendai (in north-eastern Japan) to eat it as a special delicacy, however it is now popular as Yakiniku in restaurants throughout Japan. 

 (Yes, that's my beloved Sendai that was hit by a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in 2011) 

If you've never tried it before, your first question will probably be "What does gyutan taste like?"

The flavour of gyutan (apart from tasting like beef, obviously) I would describe as "buttery".  When cooked just right, gyutan is very tender and moist, and a little chewy at the same time.  

Ok, this description is probably sounding a little vague to you, so maybe you'll just have to try it!

In Yakiniku, gyutan may be sprinkled with salt and pepper during cooking, and/or you may like to dip it in Yakiniku Tare (Yakiniku Sauce) or Ponzu.

I find it equally delicious with Tare or Ponzu.

Click to see more about Yakiniku: How to make Yakiniku

Here is my recipe for Yakiniku Sauce, similar to Gyu-kaku Yakiniku Sauce.

 In my photo below is the sliced Gyutan along with some Beef Heart (Shinzou) marinated with garlic, sake, oil and a little salt.  The gyutan I leave plain as it is delicious on its own.  

In Australia, we enjoy gyutan and beef heart often as at $5/kg for whole tongues from (Woolworths) supermarkets, it's about the cheapest cut of meat.

If you don't feel like skinning and slicing a whole tongue, have a look in the freezer of your Korean grocery store, and you'll pay a little more (around $16/kg) for perfectly prepared, thinly sliced beef tongue.

If you buy a whole beef tongue for the first time (yes, I agree it is a little scary-looking) and you've never prepared beef tongue before it's quite a tricky procedure.  However, there is an easy way for removing the skin and slicing a beef tongue thinly for gyutan as you see in my photo below.
Click here for my Gyutan Preparation Tutorial.

♡　♡　♡ 

I first tried Gyutan at a restaurant in Matsushima, one of the great natural wonders of Japan, located near Sendai.

Gyudon Recipe

Gyudon（牛丼）is a popular dish which was made even more popular by chains like Yoshinoya, Tsukiya and Matsuya, which make delicious Gyudon for very reasonable prices in Japan.  Gyu牛 means beef and don丼 means rice bowl (with something on top).  In other words, Beef Rice Bowl.  

Basic gyudon may be topped with beni-shoga (pickled ginger), sliced negi (shallots/spring onion) and is also delicious as Tsukimi Gyudon（月見牛丼）(with a raw egg on top) if you're feeling adventurous.
This recipe is adapted from the gyudon recipe by taka_jam on cookpad: http://cookpad.com/recipe/195791

Gyudon Recipe  serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups boiling water and 2 tsp Dashi powder
• 1-2 Onions, sliced
• 400g Beef, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Sake (optional)
• 1/3 cup Japanese Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh Ginger

• Steamed Rice and Beni-shoga, to serve.

Step 1

1. Place water, dashi powder and onions in a saucepan and boil 3 min.
2. Add sugar, sake, soy sauce, beef, and stir to combine well.  Bring to the boil and simmer 10min.
3. Stir in freshly grated ginger and simmer another 5-10 min until beef has absorbed the flavour, onions are caramelised and liquid is reduced to half.
4. Serve on a bowl of steamed rice and top with beni-shoga if desired.

Step 2



Step 3

Step 4

Tsukimi Gyudon: Crack a fresh egg on top for a more adventurous version (my favorite).  This adds a creamy element to the flavour, similar to sukiyaki.

Gyudon tips:

(At step three) One of the keys to perfect gyudon is cooking time.  If it is undercooked, the flavour hasn't developed enough and the onions are sharp.  If it is overcooked, the onions will become too soft and the flavour too strong.

For an Introduction to the Japanese Ingredients you see in this (or any) recipe, click here.

Shabu-Shabu Is Too Easy

Shabu-shabu has the image of a luxurious Japanese dinner party and yet, it can be made with not-so-expensive, everyday ingredients.  Here is our family's Shabu-shabu:

Shabu-shabu Recipe (Amounts written after ingredient are approximate for 2 people.  All vegetables are optional):

• 5cm piece of kombu (kelp)
• Goma-dare (Sesame Seed Dipping Sauce) (click for recipe)  and/or Ponzu
• A bowl of steamed rice for each person 
• 4 cups water
• Beef, Paper-thin sliced,  300g 
• Enoki Mushrooms,  150g     (Shimeji Mushrooms are also excellent)
• Negi (shallot, spring onion), 1
• Moyashi (Mung bean sprouts), 100g
• Watercress
• Carrot shaved with a vegetable peeler
• Daikon shaved with a vegetable peeler
• Hakusai (chinese cabbage, wombok), A few leaves
• Atsu-age (Deep fried tofu), sliced thinly, 150g

1. Boil water with Kombu in a wide flat saucepan (or deep frypan).  Place on a gas cooker on the table.
2. Add some of each vegetable and tofu, in a separate spot in the pan.
3. After a minute or two, each person adds meat as desired.
4. Now it's time to eat, ach person dipping each cooked item in the Goma-dare (or Ponzu).

While wagyu would be the ultimate meat of choice for shabu-shabu, in our family (in Australia) we enjoy whatever thinly sliced beef we can buy locally.  Below is a photo of the "shabu-shabu" beef at a local Korean butcher.  It was about $4 for 300g.

4-Step Shabu-Shabu:
Step 1:  Buy your meat already sliced:

Step 2:  Cut the vegetables and tofu:

Step 3: Get your Goma-dare from the refrigerator: (make a large batch - it keeps well for months in the fridge!)

Step 4:  Put the kombu in the pot of boiling water and add some vegetables, meat and tofu.

...now all you have to do is enjoy it, because everyone cooks their own.

(Don't you love not having to cook cook dinner!)

 ❤Enjoy your Shabu-shabu❤

Our home is a Yakiniku Restaurant

...That's the English translation of the name of our favorite Yakiniku Sauce:

我が家は焼き肉屋さん

Yakiniku doesn't have to mean an expensive restaurant.
It is so simple to prepare at home.
Super easy.  Super oishii (yummy).

"Yaki" means "grill" and "niku" means "meat".  It's table cooking (electric grill or frypan work fine), so, just like Sukiyaki, it's a lot of fun.

How to Make Yakiniku
(Here's an example of what I used last night)

• Meat:  Thinly sliced beef, with a little sake, sesame oil, +/- garlic and salt, sliced chicken marinated with sake, oil and salt.
• Vegetables:  sliced onion, thinly sliced pumpkin, cabbage (cut 2 inch squares), enoki mushrooms, carrot.  I love the onion.
• Sauce:  Yakiniku Sauce (called Yakiniku Ta-re in Japanese).  Served in a small dipping bowl for each person. Yakiniku Sauce Recipe Here
• Steamed Rice:  in a small bowl for each person.
• Chopsticks.

Too easy.  Everyone does the cooking and eating together.  Don't you love not having to cook?

More Meat:
We also like ox tongue (skin removed and thinly sliced, sprinkled lightly with salt and pepper) or heart (thinly sliced, marinated with sesame oil and garlic).  Ox tongue (beef tongue) is $5/kilo at Woolworths supermarket here. I think that's the cheapest meat in Australia.  Tastes buttery and a little rubbery.  I love it though.  Sendai is famous for it.


More Vegetables:
Eggplant, bell peppers (in Japan we have Piiman), zucchini are my favourites with yakiniku.  I always have a ton of veggies.
Moyashi (bean sprouts) also go well, as do regular button mushrooms.

Sauce:
You can make your own yakiniku ta-re or gomadare (sesame seed sauce) with my recipes (click link to see each recipe).  
Some meats like gyu-tan also taste good with Ponzu (bought, or try mixing soy sauce, lemon juice and a little sugar)  I'll post about that too...