Nikujaga is a delicious Japanese dish made primarily from two main ingredients: meat (“niku“) and potatoes (“jagaimo”). It is one of the staple Japanese weekday dinner dishes. So it is quick to cook and satisfies all the family’s taste buds.
What is Nikujaga ?
Literally Nikujaga means meat and potatoes. Niku is meat and jaga is the short form of Jagaimo, which means potatoes. Basically the meat and potatoes are stewed in soy sauce which has been sweetened with mirin and sugar. Nikujaga is a traditional dish and recipe that Japanese mothers pass down from generation to generation.
Konnyaku noodle
Konnyaku noodle may be unfamiliar to you. However, it is a unique ingredient used in the Nikujaga recipe. Konnyaku has an edible corn and is a commonly grown plant. Konnyaku comes in many different forms. Konjac is another name for it. Often the noodle form of konnyaku is used for Nikujaga and Sukiyaki.
How to prepare Konnyaku noodle for Nikujaga
Konnyaku, is a popular diet food because of its dietary fibre of glucomannan and very low calories. However it has a distinctively fishy smell, but fortunately there is a way to remove the odour. Place 2 litres of water in a pot and bring the water to boil. Add the konjac noodle and cook for a few minutes. Turn the heat off and drain the boiling water. This will remove the smell.
Thinly sliced meat
The reason that many Japanese dishes use thinly sliced meat, is because this is how meat is packaged and sold in Japan. I usually buy those thinly sliced meats at Japanese grocery stores or Korean grocery stores. Finally, if you cannot buy the meat that has been sliced thin, you can do it yourself. There is a trick to slicing meat thinly. Cut it when it is very cold.
I hope you enjoy Nikujaga. If you can not remember the name of the dish, think about Mick Jagger 🤣And if you liked Nikujaga, please rate this recipe and comment below.
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Nikujaga - Japanese Beef and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 150 g thinly cut beef *1
- 5 small potatoes or 350g
- 1/2 medium carrot or 90g
- 1 small onion or 130g
- 10 green beans
- 250 ml Dashi stock *2
- 3 tbsp sake
- 3 tbsp mirin
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 100 g Konnyaku noodle
- 1/2 tbsp oil
Instructions
- Peel the potato and cut into irregular sized chunks. Round the corner off and soak in a bowl of water. *3
- Peel carrot and cut into 4 length wise, then slice it thinly.
- Peel and cut onion in half then thinly and diagonally.
- Trim both ends of green beans and cut into small pieces.
- Bring water to boil in a pot and cook Konnyaku to remove the fishy smell for a couple minutes. Drain the water and set aside.
- Heat oil in a pot over medium heat.
- Add onion, carrot and potato to cook.
- Once the onion, carrot and potato are coated with oil evenly and the edge of the potato become transparent, addthe beef.
- When the beef colour has turned light brown, add the dashi stock and bring to boil.
- Remove all the scum from the top and put a sheet of aluminum foil, with a small hole cut in the middle, over the top. *4
- Simmer for about 15 minutes to cook until the potato has become soft.
- Add sake, mirin, sugar and soy sauce.
- Add Konnyaku and green beans and simmer until the sauce reduces a little bit.
- When the green beans colour has changed and cooked, turn the heat off and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
thank you for sharing the Japanese cuisine recipes, i love your website!
this particular one has already become one of the regulars in my house – so delicious yet simple!
Thank you Cayce 😀 and you are welcome.
Our whole family loves this dish!😊 The only thing I do differently is serve it over rice or cauli rice instead of the noodles.
Thank you Katherine, and sharing great serving ideas 😀
I made replacing the sliced beef with minced beef, the onion with spring onion and the sugar with black treacle. And it was delicious! どうもありがとう。PS. The adverts on your website are a pain. Otherwise it’s awesome.
I made it vegan with Gardein beefless ground and it was great. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Lorne, thank you for making Nikujaga! That is great alternative for vegan version 😀
Just a question: I have a little person who cannot have soy due to allergies. Any suggestions for substituting the soy sauce – fish sauce or Worcestershire???
Hi Jules, you can use coconut amino. You can read Japanese food substitutions here https://www.chopstickchronicles.com/japanese-food-substitutions/
Is it possible to double the mirin and omit the sugar? Sake is too expensive in my area.
Hi KannaChan, yes posible 😀
Making for the second time tonight… love it!
Ohhh Thank you Simone 😀
Looking delicious and this dish i ll try
Thank you Evie 😀
I made this today. Very easy and delicious! Family loved it!
Thank you so much for your comment and 5 stars rating 😀 I am glad to know that your family loved it 😀
delicious thank you !
thank you!
Hi! What cut of beef is best to use?
Thanks!
Hi Caitlin, in Japan generally thinly sliced beef loin called “Kiriotoshi” or “Komagire” is used for Nikujyaga and they are the cut commonly and readily available from supermarket. They are cheap cut because Kiriotoshi means cut off. There isn’t such cut in Australia so I usually go to Japanese grocery store or Korean shop and buy thinly sliced meat. If you can’t find any Japanese shop or Korean shop, I would buy cheap cut and freeze it then cut thinly.
I can see why this dish is the or one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It looks great and your photos are very good.
Japanese culture is a complete contrast to my native Caribbean culture. I don’t eat beef very often, actually it’s not really eat much in the Caribbean but this sure does look appetising.
Hi Charla, yes, Japanese culture will be very different to your native Caribbean culture. So what types of meat do you usually cook? To be honest, I have actually never had Caribbean food before and I am very curious and interested in experiencing Caribbean food:D from your blog!
I have always love Japanese beef and potatoes. You are right, it’s such a comfort dish and takes me right back to attending cooking classes in Japan. I’ll have to try your recipe – It looks simply delicious.
Thank you Amanda:D, did you attend cooking classes in Japan? Wow! That’s what I want to do when I go back to Japan next time!
This looks so tasty and simple! What is mirin? I’ve never heard of it!
Hi Sarah, Thank you. Mirin is a staple condiment used in Japanese cooking. It is a type of rice wine like ‘Sake’ but Mirin has less alcohole and more sugar content so it is sweeter than Sake:D You can buy them from any Asian grocery store or even in supermarket like Woolworths and Coles(Australia).