Gather all the dashi and sauce ingredients.

To make the cold brew Kombu Dashi, put 2 cups water and 1 piece kombu in a measuring cup or pitcher. Set it aside to steep for a minimum of 30 minutes, or make it ahead up to overnight.

To make the sukiyaki sauce, combine ½ cup sake and ½ cup mirin in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat to simmer and let the alcohol evaporate for a minute or so.

Add 3 Tbsp sugar and ½ cup soy sauce and mix together. Bring it back to a boil. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, turn off the heat and set it aside.

Transfer the sauce to a pitcher and bring both the dashi and the sauce to the table.

Gather all the sukiyaki ingredients.

Cut 4 leaves napa cabbage into pieces 2 inches wide.

Cut ¼ bunch shungiku into 2 inches wide.

Slice the white part of 1 Tokyo negi diagonally into ½-inch pieces.

Scrape off the outer skin of 6 inches gobo and shave it into superthin strips.

Soak the gobo strips in water for 5 minutes, changing the water once. Drain well.

Cut ½ onion into ½-inch slices widthwise.

Discard the bottom part of ½ package enoki mushrooms and tear it into smaller clusters.

Cut off and discard the root ends of ½ package maitake mushrooms and separate the maitake bunch into 2 small clusters.

Cut off and discard the stems of 2 shiitake mushrooms.

Cut ½ package broiled tofu into smaller pieces.

If you’d like to make flower-shaped carrots, slice 1½ inches carrot into ¼-inch rounds.

Rinse and drain ½ package shirataki noodles. Cut the noodles in half.

Place ½ lb thinly sliced beef and suet on a plate.

Set a portable gas cooktop at the dining table.

Heat the cast-iron sukiyaki pot on medium heat. When it’s hot, add 1 Tbsp neutral oil.

Pour in barely enough sukiyaki sauce to cover the bottom of the pot.

Place a few slices of well-marbled beef in the pot. When the bottom side of the meat is cooked, flip and cook the other side.

Add some vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, and other ingredients to the pot.

Pour in enough sukiyaki sauce to partially submerge the ingredients in the sauce.

Bring to a gentle simmer. Then, turn down the heat and simmer until cooked through.

Transfer some of the cooked ingredients to the individual bowls and enjoy the first round of sukiyaki.

When there is less cooked food in the pot, portion what’s left into the individual bowls.

Start cooking the second round by adding more ingredients to the pot.

We usually end the sukiyaki meal with a final course of udon. When most of the ingredients have disappeared, add the cooked udon noodles to the remaining broth in the sukiyaki pot.