Been an extremely hectic week of work - sorry for the lack of posting. I leave tomorrow night for a quick trip to New York City, so good eats are forthcoming. In the meantime, I've got a few more meals from Japan to post.

Our next dinner was at Mishima-Tei, a famous sukiyaki house/meat market established in 1873. It's still in the original building, which is funny considering it's now under the bright lights of Teramachi Street. Inside, it's totally old school. You take off your shoes in a little entry area, then climb up and down a few little stairways to eventually to find one of several scattered private rooms. There, they set you up with everything required to cook at the table.

Sukiyaki is just one of many ways you can cook high-quality Japanese beef. This was my second visit here, so I knew what to expect. Though I still think teppanyaki is the best way to eat Japanese beef, sukiyaki is a nice change of pace, and Mishima-Tei is certainly a good place to check out the cooking style. They also offer shabu-shabu and what they call "oil-yaki," which seems to be a simple sear.

And hey, they even offer an Engrish menu for us gaijin! I love slised meat with soy source. Not surprisingly, we went with the Mishima-Tei "Grand class Meat" at ¥11,000, which basically comes with everything.

INGREDIENTS PRE-COOKINGA very polite Japanese lady came out with a huge tray of ingredients, containing our beef, a basket of veggies, and a bunch of sauce plus sugar.

GRAND CLASS MEATHere's a closer shot of our "Grand class Meat." The language barrier left a more detailed explanation of the beef's origins a mystery, but as you can see... it was very, very marbled.

EARLY COOKING ACTIONOur friendly Japanese waitress/chef started by dumping a ton of sugar into our little iron pot, then lining up a bunch of beef and pouring some soy sauce over the whole thing. They pretty much do all the cooking for you, so you don't have to worry about messing anything up.

JUST ABOUT DONEHere's the first batch of beef, well-dressed in sauce and just about ready to eat. Cooking does not take long at all.

COOKED BEEF WITH EGGThe other cool thing about sukiyaki is that you basically use a raw, beaten egg as your dipping sauce. It makes for a much gooeyer texture than teppanyaki, but an incredibly soft and tender texture. It requires minimal chewing and works amazingly well with rice. The flavor is very rich as you might expect, with a good amount of sweetness from the sugar.

BEEF WITH VEGGIESAfter an initial round of all beef, some veggies went into the pot too. Tofu, onions, mushrooms, scallions, a green called shungiku, and some chewy noodles made from konnyaku were used - all pretty standard sukiyaki sides. They all become delicious after soaking up the marbled juices seeping from the beef.

Here's some video action of the cooking in process. I guess I didn't pick the most exciting part to film, but you get the idea. I was busy eating immediately when it was cooked. Also included is some unedited bonus material that I call "Che family musings on sukiyaki sauce."

PEAR AND HONEY DEWA simple serving of fruit at the end was perfect and very refreshing after the richness of the meat.

Overall, a very good meal, and an important pit stop on the neverending path of Japanese cuisine. I'll admit sukiyaki doesn't excite me as much as sushi or teppanyaki, but it's still a fun and delicious experience. Check it out!