Book of Days Tales

On this date in 1867 the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan came to its official end, when Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th Tokugawa shogun “put his prerogatives at the Emperor’s disposal” and resigned 10 days later. Thus began the Meiji Restoration, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform, or Renewal, when 15 year old emperor Meiji was restored as ruler of Japan.  Of course it was not as simple as all that – history rarely is.

The Tokugawa shoguns (hereditary military leaders) had ruled Japan since 1600 when Tokugawa Ieyasu seized control from the emperor.  Emperors continued to exist thereafter but had no power. When Westerners think of “typical” Japanese culture – arts, cuisine, samurai, geishas – they are thinking of the Tokugawa period. The culture had rigid codes of conduct and was strictly isolationist from other cultures.  For 250 years these policies worked, but cracks appeared in the 1850’s when the intrusion of Western ships, notably Commodore Perry’s arrival, made it clear that isolationism had left Japan far behind the rest of the world in many spheres, including technology.  After considerable debate among the powerful there was some (not universal) agreement that the shoguns should relinquish power to the emperor who would then open up Japan to modern influences.  The official end of the shogunate was not the end of the story, however.  People holding a lot of power under the old system were not going to give it up without a fight.

Movies such as “The Last Samurai” (pitiful oversimplification) characterize the rebellion of the supporters of the old shogunate against Meiji’s faction as a cultural war, and to some extent it was.  What is frequently overlooked is that even in the 1850’s Western influences had crept in.  Some samurai wore Western clothes and carried rifles. It was not all about kimonos versus suits — old culture versus new.

As part of the Meiji reforms, the emperor lifted the ban on red meat and promoted Western cuisine, which was viewed as the cause of the Westerner’s greater physical size. The cuisine known as yōshoku was thus created, and as a result of its origins, relies on meat as a common element, unlike the typical Japanese cuisine at the time, based on fish and poultry. Many yōshoku dishes are barely distinguishable from Western counterparts with little more than a slight Japanese twist. They are now considered as Japanese as sushi and are immensely popular, especially at home. Hayashi rice, for example, is a basic stew of beef, onions, and mushrooms in a demi-glace served with rice. It is considered comfort food, much like mac and cheese is in the U.S. However, yōshoku varies greatly in terms of how much Japanese cuisine has influenced the original over the years.  Omurice, for example, is indeed an omelet, but barely.  It consists of some kind of fried rice wrapped in a thin sheet of fried beaten egg and bathed in a sauce such as ketchup or demi-glace.

I’m not a big fan of yōshoku in general.  I’ve had it a few times in Tokyo when I needed a cheap and quick lunch, but ate with little gusto.  I do like Nikujaga, however.  It’s sort of an Irish stew (beef, potatoes, onions, beans, and carrots), but in a sweet soy sauce.  You should use heavily marbled beef if you can, if not use tenderloin. Shirataki are thin, transparent rice noodles. Dashi is the simmering stock of choice because it blends well with the soy.  Dashi is made from dried bonito flakes and kelp, and is the absolute backbone of Japanese cooking. You can get a powdered form in Asian markets. If not you can use beef stock, but it should be thin with low sodium. One important feature of this dish is that the vegetable pieces are big, much bigger than Western norms.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
8 ounces beef sliced thin
1 onion, peeled and cut in thick slices
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into large pieces
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms stems removed and quartered
½ cup sake
2 cups dashi or thin beef broth (low sodium)
2 tbsps sugar
3 tbsps soy sauce
5 oz bag shirataki drained and rinsed
3 ozs green beans, ends trimmed and left whole

Instructions:

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy pot.

Working in batches, sauté the beef until lightly browned on both sides. Set the beef aside.

Sauté the onions until they are soft, then add the potatoes, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms, and sauté for another 3 minutes.

Add the sake and bring to a rapid boil for about 1 minute.

Turn down the heat to medium, add the dashi, sugar, soy sauce, shirataki, green beans, and beef.

Simmer, partially covered until the potatoes and carrots are well cooked (about 30 mins).

Serves 4-6