Tama's Sukiyaki

3 tablespoon sesame oil

1 cup thinly sliced onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoon ginger, minced

1 lb. sliced steak (if you have an Asian market--use the very thinly sliced sukiyaki beef from the freezer section or use lean ground beef made into small meatballs)

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

In a wide, deep pan, sweat (cook without browning) the ginger, garlic and onion in the oil over low heat, stirring occasionally. When the onion is translucent, stir in the beef. Then add the soy sauce, Mirin and sugar and stir gently to mix.

Add the cut vegetables in a layer, then cover the top of the beef and vegetable mixture with a layer of the napa cabbage or bok choy. 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.

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Paper thin sliced steak can be found in the freezer section of Japanese groceries. Tiny meatballs made from ground beef can substitute, but steak sliced by hand will be too thick and tough. Though beef is in this dish, pair a crisp, white wine actually goes better with the flavors in sukiyaki than red.