Sukiyaki style soup a la Elena

Living in Miami, I seldom get the urge to make soup because there aren't too many cold days where a hot bowl of deliciousness would feel like the perfect food.

Today was a different story. Still warm and partly sunny I went to the supermarket with the intention of making a "sukiyaki" style soup. Maybe I dreamt about it last night!  Found everything I wanted except the thinly sliced beef.  Asked the butcher to cut a small piece of tenderloin in paper thin slices with his super sharp butcher's knife.  I'm told that you can also freeze the beef for 45 minutes and slice it yourself.

Sukiyaki is traditionally cooked at the table.  My version was meant for one and I didn't need the ceremony so I just made it like I would a regular soup with less cooking time.  The ingredients are the same and so is the taste so I'm sure you'll enjoy it. By the way, in addition to Shirataki "noodles" you can use Udon or thinner Japanese noodles.  I was perfectly happy without them. Next time I will add
spinach, which I didn't have today.

I did not take a picture of the finished product but have taken this one from the internet:

Here's my recipe:

21 oz of beef loin or round sliced very thin (if you're a vegetarian you can skip this altogether)
1/4 head of Chinese cabbage
4 green onions
20 oz of Shirataki "noodles"
8 shiitake mushrooms
12 oz of tofu cut in bite size squares (not too small cause they'll vanish in the soup)
3 1/2 enokitake mushrooms

For the cooking sauce:

2 or 3 cups of water
2 teaspoons dashi stock powder (you can buy this in powder form much like Knorr broth packages)
4 tablespoons of  soy sauce
4 tablespoons of Mirin
1 tablespoon  of sugar (you can put a couple of teaspoons of sake if you have it.  I didn't)

You'll have to "play" with these ingredients and make it taste right for you.

Cooking

In a soup pot put the 2 cups of water and the dashi stock powder and mix well and bring to a boil
Add the soy sauce and Mirin
Add the vegetables and let them cook for 15 minutes
Add tofu gently and the Shirataki noodles.
Add beef
Let it cook for another couple of minutes until the beef turns color and is cooked.  Not too long cause you don't want it to get tough.

Put a raw egg in each bowl you're going to serve.  Beat egg until it is well "integrated" and then pour soup on top of the egg in each bowl.

Very satisfying, not too many calories and delicious.

Serves around 6 people.