In the mood for...

Following the last Gluten Free post, I wanted to clear up any doubts as to what I eat in Japan. Just in case you felt depressed after reading that post -- either for yourself or for me, I want you to have no fear.  I am eating well in Japan.  And I am also enjoying Japanese food.  That I cook.  For myself.

Tonight I decided to make sukiyaki on a whim.  Luckily, thanks to my friend Cyndi, I have San-J Gluten Free Tamari (which you can't get in Japan unfortunately).  Tamari is a richer tasting version of soy sauce, so it works much better than say, Bragg's Liquid Aminos (which I've used before, but found that it doesn't do the trick with Japanese cooking).  So, if you can get a bottle of Tamari, then you are set.  They do have GF tamari in Japan, but it's usually something you have to special order as it's not regularly consumed.

So, I used the tamari, sake, hon mirin and sugar.  Make certain that the mirin and sake you buy don't have wheat/gluten ingredients in them.   I browned the meat and then added veggies and water.  I added a bit more tamari after introducing the veggies.  Then I let it simmer and waited.

Here's the end product of my evening's work.  It's not the most beautiful dish (I didn't go for the presentation -- that's how you can tell I'm not a true Japanese cook), but it was...

おいしいかったですよ！(Not to brag or anything...)

Just in case you're in the mood for sukiyaki too...