This sukiyaki doesn't use any soy sauce, so it's called salt-sukiyaki. I found a recipe by a famous Japanese chef, and tweaked it to my version.
It's very easy to make and also very healthy, as it's mostly mushrooms and vegetables. For this dish, you can use any kind of classic-style donabe, but I would particularly recommend Kyoto-style shallow and wide donabe, because the dish is cooked with less amount of broth than regular (soupy) hot pot dishes.
Bacon was sauteed in the donabe first, then burdock root, broth, mushrooms were added. Once everything is cooked through, I put a big pile of mizuna on top, and let it wilt with the cover on for a minut or so. To finish, all the ingredients were mixed together. To serve, I like dipping the cooked ingredients in a bowl of raw egg (like how we eat sukiyaki in Japan), but if you are afraid of raw egg, you can just serve it with some broth and condiments such as grated daikon radish, shichimi pepper, etc. It was so delicious! Here's my recipe.
Salt Sukiyaki with Mushrooms
Ingredients
4-6 oz bacon, cut into 1.5" strips
3 oz gobo (burdock root), thinly sliced and soaked in water for 15 minutes
2+ cups mixed mushrooms, such as shiitake, eryingi, shimeji, enoki, sliced as necessary
1.5 cups mizuna, bottom part removed, and cut into 2" length
(sauce)
1.5 cups dashi stock
1/4 cup sake
1/4 cup mirin
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
Condiments: Raw egg (for dipping), shichimi pepper, grated daikon, etc.
Procedure
1. Saute the bacon in the donabe. By using paper towel, soak up excess fat released.
2. Add the burdock root and continue to saute for a minute or two.
3. Combine the ingredients for the sauce and add to the donabe.
4. Add the mushrooms. Let them simmer until the mushrooms are cooked through.
5. Cover the surface with the mizuna. Cover with the lid and let it wilt for 1 minute.
6. Open and stir well.
7. Serve with your choice of condiments.
Happy donabe life.
