So probably one of the things we all love about Japan is the absolutely delish food.

I remember how during the times I first started getting into my Japan craze, getting a taste of the cuisine was one of my top priorities.

...So if you live in the middle of nowhere or you have no "monseys" to go to a Japanese restaurant, you are left with the option of doing it yourself. Which I did. Unsuccessfully, for the most part.

Then I discovered there are these magic things called recipes, and I slowly got better at it

Which is why today we are going to take a look at a really nice recipe (for which you kinda need some Japanese ingredients that I hope you are going to find in the supermarket)

Consider it a double lesson, you learn how to cook and how to"Japanese" as well. 2 in one.

Without further ado,
今日のメニューは。。。
きょう　の　めにゅー　は。。。
Today's menu is...
Literally: 'today + の + menu + は'

By Kapichu - photo from the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

...すき焼き
すきやき
Sukiyaki

I like to think of this as literally meaning "like (好き〈すき〉) + bake/grill (焼き〈やき〉)."

...which doesn't really make sense because you neither bake nor grill anything. At least the 'すき' part is there for a reason: you can basically put in anything you like, and there are many variations for this recipe.

So, the ingredients:

牛肉薄切り: 250g
ぎゅうにく　うすぎり: にひゃくごじゅう　ぐらむ
Thinly sliced beef: 250g
Literally: 'beef + thin-sliced'

ねぎ : 2本
ねぎ: に　ほん
Green onion: 2 pcs
Literally: 'green onion: 2 pcs (with '本' as counter for long thin items)

えのき:200g
えのき: にひゃく　ぐらむ
Enoki mushrooms: 200g

舞茸: 1パック
まいたけ: ひと　ぱっく　（いち　ぱっく）
Maitake / Hen-of-the-woods: 1 pack

豆腐(木綿):1丁
とうふ（もめん）: いっ　ちょう
Tofu (cotton): 1 pack
* there are 2 main types of tofu (explained here in more detail), but 'cotton tofu' is the coarser spongier type. Truth is both types go very well with Sukiyaki so you don't have to sweat it.
** 丁(ちょう) is a counter for blocks of tofu.

白菜: 4枚
はくさい: よん　まい
Chinese cabbage: 4 leaves
* 枚 is also a counter for flat stuff.

しょうゆ:大さじ３～４
しょうゆ: おおさじ　さん　から　よん
Soy sauce: 3 - 4 large spoons

砂糖:大さじ３～４
さとう: おおさじ　さん　から　よん
Sugar: 3 - 4 large spoons

油：少々
あぶら：しょうしょう
Oil: a little

Now, if you can't find these exact shrooms, don't worry, Google is your friend. Carrots and many other types of mushrooms go just fine!

You will also need a larger frying pan to simmer these beauties.

Now let's get to the fun part.

It's going to be a long sentence but we'll chop into tiny little pieces :D

Step 1:
フライパンを熱し、油をひき、牛肉を入れて空いた所にネギを斜め切りしたものを加える。
ふらいぱん　を　ねっし、あぶら　を　ひき、ぎゅうにく　を　いれて　あいた　ところ　に　ねぎ　を　ななめぎり　した　もの　を　くわえる。
Heat up the pan, oil it, add the beef and in the spaces left open add the diagonally sliced green onions.
Literally: 'Frying pan + を + heat up + oil + を + "pull" , + beef + を + put in + open + spaces + in + green onions + を + diagonally sliced + things + を + add.'

Whoa that was a long one. Let's slice it up a little.

Slice 1:
フライパンを熱し
ふらいぱん　を　ねっし
Heat up the pan and
Literally: Frying pan + を + heat up (and)'

* You most likely won't hear 熱し being used in casual conversation, I know I haven't. It's part of what I call 'kitchen slang'. The dictionary version is 熱する/ねっする/to heat up.

Slice 2:
油をひき
あぶら　を　ひき
Oil (it) and
Literally: 'Oil + を + pull (and)'
Note: Another great example of 'kitchen slang'.

Slice 3:
牛肉を入れて
ぎゅうにく　を　いれて
Add the beef and
Literally: 'beef + を + put in (and)'

There's a little inception thing going on at the end here...

Slice 4:
空いた所にネギを (...Slice 5 ...) 加える
あいた　ところ　に　ねぎ　を　 (...Slice 5 ...)　くわえる
Add the green onions in the spaces left open (between the beef slices)
Literally: 'open + spaces + に + green onions + を + (Slice 5) + add.'

Slice 5:
斜め切りしたものを
ななめぎり　した　もの　を
(which you previously) sliced diagonally
Literally: 'diagonally sliced + things + を'

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Next step:
焦がさないように砂糖・塩をかけながら、好みの煮え加減にする。
こがさない　ように　さとう・しお　を　かけ　ながら、このみ　の　にえかげん　に　する。
(Make sure) it doesn't burn, sprinkle the sugar and the salt and boil it to taste.
Literally: 'not burn + so that + sugar & salt + を + while adding + preference + の + boiling-extent + に + する.'

Now the grammar-nazi-textbook-correct-version of this would be adding a little something after 'ように', like:
焦がさないように注意し,
こがさない　ように　ちゅうい　し、
Be careful not to burn it,
Literally: 'Not burn + so that + take care'

But-but-but of course the natural conversational Japanese is going to do what it does best: eliminate the unnecessary stuff. You don't really need to add the 'take care' because it can be picked up from the context, so good riddance to you, captain obvious!

Now, the middle slice:
砂糖・塩をかけながら
さとう・しお　を　かけながら
While adding (pouring) the sugar and the salt
Literally: 'Sugar & salt + を + while pouring'

Also, let's sit down for a moment and have a chat with Grammar-おにいちゃん.

Verb (stem of masu form) + ながら
'while (doing) something'

Hmmm stem of ~masu form? What was that おにいちゃん? I can't seem to remember:

English Masu form ~masu stem
To pour かけます　 かけ
To eat たべます　 たべ
To drink のみます　 のみ

So now you take that stem and you add the ながら to say 'while (one is doing) something'

Like so:

かけながら --> while pouring
たべながら --> while eating
のみながら --> while drinking

Easy peasy.

Last slice:

好みの煮え加減にする。
このみ　の　にえかげん　に　する。
Boil it to taste.
Literally: 'Preference + の + boiling-extent + に + する.'

There is one good combo word to learn from this sentence: ~加減

In the sentence above you see an example that is not so common.

煮え加減
にえかげん
Boiling extent
Literally: 'boiling + limit/degree/extent'

But there is one example that I'm sure you have heard before:
いい加減にしろ！
いい　かげん　に　しろ！
That's enough / cut it out!
Literally: 'good + limit + に + make it!'

It basically means: 'don't go beyond the limit (of common sense or whatever).'

There is another slightly more elusive one.

力加減
ちからかげん
Amount of force
Literally: 'power + extent'

This is usually used when you need to be careful not to break something, i.e. limit/carefully control your force.

力加減が分からなくて壊しちゃった。
ちからかげん　が　わからなくて　こわしちゃった。
I didn't know the amount / extent of force (I should apply) and I broke it.
Literally: 'force-limit + が + not know + broke it (by accident)'

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Anyway, let's get back to our dish before we overcook it:

白菜を食べよい大きさに切って加える
はくさい　を　たべよい　おおきさ　に　きって　くわえる。
Cut the Chinese cabbage into bite-sized pieces and add it (to the pan).
Literally: 'Chinese + cabbage + を + good-to-eat + size + に + cut (and) + add'.
Note: 食べやすい (たべやすい // easy to eat) is more common than 食べよい.

Next comes the tofu:

豆腐を6つに切ってくわえる。
とうふ　を　むっつ　に　きって　くわえる。
Cut the Tofu into 6 pieces and add it.
Literally: 'Tofu + を + 6 (pieces) + に + cut (and) add'.

By now the Sukiyaki is almost finished. Just a few more steps:

舞茸・えのきを加え
まいたけ・えのき　を　くわえ
Add the Maitake & Enoki mushrooms' and
Literally: 'Maitake & Enoki + を + add (and)'

Aaaand we're done!

出来あがり！
できあがり！
It's done!

Well, now this was a loong lesson. But hey, now you know how to cook Sukiyaki. Have fun in the kitchen and be careful with the knife :)

Bye-bye, see you next time!

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This lesson was written by Adriana, a guest contributor.