Sukiyaki Coloring Pages

A Feast for the Whole Family! Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is one of Japan's most famous hot pot dishes. You eat thinly sliced beef by cooking or boiling it in a sweet and savory sauce made with sugar and soy sauce. People often eat it with their whole family on special days, like New Year's Day or celebrations. It is a super popular treat! It is usually made in a thick pot called an iron pot. The bubbling sound and wonderful smell will make you feel hungry!

The Difference Between Kanto and Kansai Styles

There are two main ways to make Sukiyaki: "Kanto style" and "Kansai style." Isn't it cool that the recipe changes depending on the area?

• Kanto Style: First, you put a sauce called "Warishita" into the pot. It is a mix of soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and soup stock. Then, you add beef and vegetables to boil together. This style comes from an old dish called "Gyunabe."
• Kansai Style: First, you melt beef fat in the pot and sear the meat. Next, you add sugar and soy sauce directly on top to flavor it. After that, you put in the vegetables and let them cook in their own juice and cooking sake. This style focuses on "searing" the meat first.

Yummy Ingredients

Sukiyaki has lots of delicious ingredients besides beef!

• Beef: The star of Sukiyaki! Juicy, marbled beef melts in your mouth and tastes amazing.
• Long Green Onion: People cut it into thick pieces. When you cook it, it gets sweet and tastes perfect with beef.
• Grilled Tofu: Tofu with a grilled top so it does not fall apart as easily as regular tofu. It absorbs all the yummy flavors.
• Shirataki Noodles: White noodle-like food made from konjac yams. They have a fun, bouncy texture.
• Shungiku (Garland Chrysanthemum): A green vegetable with a unique smell. It gives rich Sukiyaki a fresh, light taste.
• Raw Egg: You crack a raw egg into a bowl, whisk it, and dip the hot meat and vegetables into it. It makes the taste rich and creamy, and it stops you from burning your tongue!

How to choose colors to make Sukiyaki look delicious

For your Sukiyaki coloring page, try picking tasty-looking colors that match each ingredient!

• Meat color: If the meat is not cooked yet, use red or pink. Leave a little bit of white for the fat to make it look fancy! For cooked meat, use brown or dark brown to show that it is full of tasty sauce.
• Green onions: The outside is white, and it slowly turns to yellow-green or green toward the inside to make it look real. If it has grill marks, add a little brown for tasty scorch marks!
• Grilled tofu: Color the whole piece cream color or light yellow. Then, color the grill marks brown.
• Shirataki noodles: You can leave them pure white, but if you add a super light touch of light blue or gray, they will look see-through! If they soaked up the sauce, layer a light brown over them.
• Shiitake mushrooms: Color the cap dark brown. Leave the cut pattern white to make it look pretty!
• Raw egg: Color the egg in the bowl with a bright yellow or orange. If you leave a white spot where the light hits, it will look smooth and runny!

Techniques to make Sukiyaki look like a big feast

Don't just color the picture. Try these little tricks to make it look even more delicious!

• Shiny sauce: Sukiyaki sauce is shiny and sweet! After you use dark brown, leave a few white spots to show the shimmer. It will look nice and shiny!
• Draw steam: Draw fluffy lines with light gray or light blue above the pot or your small bowl. It will look like hot, freshly cooked food!
• A heavy-looking pot: A Sukiyaki pot is made of iron. Color it with black or dark gray to make it look heavy and cool!

Why is it called "Sukiyaki"?

People say that the "Suki" in Sukiyaki actually comes from "suki," the Japanese word for a farm tool used to dig up dirt.
A long time ago, people placed the metal part of a farm tool called a "suki" over a fire. Then they cooked meat, fish, and vegetables on top of it. They were "yaki-ing" (cooking) on a "suki," so it became known as "Sukiyaki."

There is a reason why we dip it in egg

When you eat Sukiyaki, you dip the food in raw egg, right? There are good reasons for this.
One reason is to cool down the super hot food so you do not burn your mouth.
Another reason is to make the strong, sweet and savory flavor taste soft and smooth. It is not just tasty, it really helps!

It used to be called "Gyunabe"

Long ago in the Meiji period, people in Japan started eating a lot of beef. Back then, a dish like Sukiyaki became very popular and was called "Gyunabe." Eating Gyunabe was cool and stylish back then because it showed that Japan was adopting exciting new ideas!