Sukiyaki is hot pot dish where everyone gathers around to dip thin slices of beef, seafood, vegetables and glass noodles into the center pot of boiling broth. It’s a really fun and tasty way to enjoy a meal with family and friends on a cold day.
The Laotian version of sukiyaki is very different to Japanese sukiyaki. The sauce is thick and rich with tofu, shrimp and peanut flavors. And of course, it’s spicy but you can adjust the level of spiciness. It truly is the highlight of the hotpot.
Preparing the Ingredients
The ingredients to make this tasty sauce includes dried shrimp, pickled garlic, garlic, roasted peanuts, red bean curd, shallots, dried japones chillies, garlic, paprika, vinegar, sugar and sesame oil.
Soak the dried shrimp in water for about 15 minutes or until soft. Then finely chop.
There are many types of pickled garlic. Get the one at the Asian grocery store. The jar will contain whole pickled garlic bulbs. Peel the pickled garlic, finely chop and also save the pickled garlic juice.
Roast the peanuts until golden brown, then finely crush.
Red bean curd square pieces comes in a jar with liquid. Mash the red bean curd with the juices . This will give the sauce the saltiness flavor.
Finely chop the shallots and garlic. Soak the dried japones chilies until soft then finely chop. To help with the chopping and smashing I highly recommend using a mortar and pestleor food processor.
Making the sauce
Heat a fry pan or wok on medium heat. Add 1/2 Cup of vegetable oil and sauté the shallot, garlic, chilies and paprika until soft and fragrant. Remove from the pan and set aside.
For this sauce you won’t be using all the sautéd chilie mixture. It really depends on the level of spiciness you desire. You can also reserve the sautéd shallots and chilies for other dishes such as a spicy stir fry.
In a big sauce pan, add all the prepared ingredients and about 1 cup of the sautéd chili mixture. Add the vinegar, sugar, pickled garlic juice and sesame oil. Put the pan on low heat and continuously stir.
Once the sauce comes to a gentle boil, stir for another 10 minutes. Now when you taste it, you can decide if you want to add more of the sautéd chilies.
The sauce should have a nice balance of salty, sweet and spicy. The peanuts will give it a creaminess. It will be thick but the sesame oil will give it silky texture. This sauce will keep in the freezer for a long time!
How to serve sukiyaki
To serve sukiyaki, it’s a good to invest in a good hot pot like this one. Or you can get one that is just the pot and you put it on a camping burner. Hot pot strainers are also handy so each person can dip their own food.
I prefer to use beef broth but you can also do chicken, pork or even vegetable broth if you want to keep it vegan.
As for the vegetables, napa cabbage, enoki mushroom, ong choy, bok choy and spinach are a must. The more leafy green vegetables the better. Glass noodles are also essential to this hot pot dish.
Make sure you soak the glass noodles in water first to soften the noodles.
I love seafood for this dish. Calamari, shrimp, seafood balls and fish balls are a tasty addition. To make life easier and for an impressive presentation, you can buy pineapple cut calamari.
Another great tip, is to buy shrimp that is already peeled and deveined. The the seafood and fish balls just need to be defrosted.
To save time, ask the butcher to slice the beef into thin slices. You want beef that does not have a lot of fat on it. Asian supermarkets sell the beef pre-sliced and packaged especially for hot pots. When serving add a cracked egg in the middle of the beef plate. It will make the beef taste so good and look extra fancy!
There is no need to marinate any of the seafood or beef. The broth has lots of flavor and the sukiyaki sauce is tasty for this hot pot dish.
Sukiyaki is a great dish to serve for family and friends. It’s really not that hard to prepare once you have the sauce done. Everyone gets to dip their food in the broth and it cooks really fast. Then dip it in the sukiyaki sauce and it will wake up your tastebuds.
Suppose you’re craving sukiyaki, but you don’t want to have a hot pot party. You can make it into a soup dish, then add the sukiyaki sauce to your bowl. Super easy and oh so good! I hope you enjoy it.
Lao Sukiyaki Sauce for Hot Pot
- 19.8 oz Red Bean Curd Mashed
- 7 oz Dried Shrimp Soaked and finely chopped
- 1 Cup Pickled Garlic Juice
- 8 oz Pickled Garlic Peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 Cup Vinegar
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Cup Sesame Oil
- 10 cloves Shallots Finely Chopped
- 20 Dried Japones Chilies soaked
- 2 tbsp Paprika
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
Soak the chilies in water for about 15 minutes or until soft.
Finely shop the chilies and shallots.
Put the chilies, shallots and paprika in a mortar and pestle. Pound into a paste
Heat a fry pan on medium heat and add the oil. Saute the chilies, shallots and paprika until soft and fragrant. Set aside
Soak the dried shrimp in water for about 15 minutes or untili soft. Then finely chop.
Peel the pickled garlic and finely chop.
Roast the peanuts until golden. Then finely crush.
Mash the red bean curd along with it's juices.
Add all the ingredients in a pot along with 1 cup of the chilie mixture.
Put on low heat and stir continuously until it comes to a soft boil.
Continue to stir for about 10 minutes after it comes to a boil. Taste to see if has the desired level of spiciness. Let it cool.
Use a food processor or mortar and pestle to finely chop/pound all the ingredients.