SUKIYAKI

A popular Japanese hot pot dish consisting of thinly sliced beef, tofu, vegetables, and other ingredients simmered in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. It typically uses raw eggs as a dipping sauce, which, however, is not essential if you do not care for raw eggs, as the ingredients are already well flavored without the dipping sauce. Sukiyaki is a symbol of the resumption of eating beef, which was long prohibited in Japan after the introduction of Buddhism. The popular Japanese song "Ue o Muite Arukō (I Look Up as I Walk)” titled “Sukiyaki” in English topped the charts in several countries, including on the Billboard Hot 100. I wonder if the song would have been this successful had it been titled “Sushi” or “Soba.” Perhaps, it was the power of beef.