🏠 Nikujaga – Easy Tasty Japanese Stew Recipe

Niku-jaga literally means “Meat-potato” 😂. In reality it has more vegetables in it tho, so it’s healthier than it sounds!

I’ve cooked a few different recipes for this, but this is now my go-to way of cooking this dish, which I will call a Japanese stew.

Ingredients

The “Niku – meat” (choose your own adventure):

• Minced chicken – 500g pack; or
• Minced pork – 500g pack; or
• <2mm sliced pork belly slices – 300g; or
• <2mm sliced tender beef – 300g

The “Jaga – potato” (and co.):

• Potatoes – 3 large or 4 medium (white)
• Onion – 2 (brown)
• Green beans – a dozen
• Carrot – 1

The broth:

• Water – 450ml
• Soy sauce – 6 table spoons (90ml)
• Mirin – 4.5 table spoons
• Sake – 4.5 table spoons
• Sugar – 3 table spoons

How to make Nikujaga (Japanese Stew)

1. Chop the vegetables.
   (Potatoes into sixths or eighths. Onions sliced to about 1cm. Carrots chopped to 1cm. Green beans chopped into thirds.)
2. Brown the meat in a pot.
3. Add vegetables and water to the pot. Let it boil.
4. Add the rest of the broth to the pot, and put a drop lid on.
5. Boil for 35mins or until the potatoes are cooked through.
6. Serve in a bowl, along with a bowl of rice.

This is based on a recipe by Sirogohan below, with some changes to accommodate local grocery shopping (and less sugar). Using minced chicken is my favourite easily accessible”niku” alternative.