nikujaga

{{Infobox prepared food

| name = Nikujaga

| image = Braised pork and potatoes (3089327692).jpg

| image_size = 300px

| caption =

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| country = Japan

| region =

| creator =

| course =

| type =

| served =

| main_ingredient = Meat (sliced or ground beef, or pork), potatoes, onion, sweetened soy sauce and mirin

| variations =

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}}

{{nihongo|Nikujaga|肉じゃが||lit. 'meat [and] potatoes'{{efn|The jaga of "nikujaga" is an abbreviation of

{{nihongo|jagaimo|ジャガ芋||lit. 'Jakarta tuber/root vegetable', 'potato'}}}}}} is a Japanese dish of meat, potatoes, and onions stewed in dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, sometimes with ito konnyaku and vegetables like carrots.{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Dijitaru Daijisen |title=肉ジャガ |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |access-date=2012-08-27 |year=2012 |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo |language=ja |trans-title=Nikujaga |oclc=56431036 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archive-date=August 25, 2007 }} Nikujaga is a kind of nimono. It is usually boiled until most of the liquid has been reduced.{{Cite web|title = 肉じゃがのレシピ｜キユーピー3分クッキング|url = http://www.ntv.co.jp/3min/recipe/20150415.html|website = 日本テレビ|access-date = 2015-10-31|language = ja}} Thinly sliced beef is the most common meat used, although minced or ground beef is also popular.{{Cite web|title = ★激論★ 肉じゃがといえば、豚か、牛か! それとも何か!? {{!}} クックパッド|url = http://cookpad.com/articles/100|website = クックパッド|access-date = 2015-10-31}} Pork is often used instead of beef in eastern Japan.

Nikujaga is a common home-cooked winter dish, served with a bowl of white rice and miso soup. It is also sometimes seen in izakayas.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}}

History

File:Food (3361970493).jpg

Nikujaga was invented by chefs of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 19th century. One story is that in 1895, Tōgō Heihachirō ordered naval cooks to create a version of the beef stews as served in the British Royal Navy. Tōgō was stationed in Maizuru, Kyoto, which established this Imperial Japanese Navy base as the birthplace of nikujaga.Asami Nagai, [http://runker_room.tripod.com/tiestalk/nikujaga.htm "Cities claim signature dishes cooked up in navy galleys"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222122944/http://runker_room.tripod.com/tiestalk/nikujaga.htm |date=2012-02-22 }}, Yomiuri Shimbun, 5 February 2000. Retrieved on 2009-03-24. "As it happens, Togo had studied naval science in Britain from 1871 to 1878, so Shimizu reasoned he must have eaten beef stew occasionally. 'We concocted a story that Togo ordered the cooks to fix something similar to beef stew,' he said." In fact, beef stews were already known before that time in Japan.

The municipal government of Kure, Hiroshima, responded in 1898 with a competing claim that Tōgō commissioned the dish while serving as chief of staff of the Kure naval base.Asami Nagai, [http://runker_room.tripod.com/tiestalk/nikujaga.htm "Cities claim signature dishes cooked up in navy galleys"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222122944/http://runker_room.tripod.com/tiestalk/nikujaga.htm |date=2012-02-22 }}, Yomiuri Shimbun, 5 February 2000. Retrieved on 2009-03-24. "City assembly members believed Togo was stationed at the Kure naval base from May 1890 to December 1891, and theorized that he likely introduced nikujaga to the navy diet at that time to prevent vitamin B deficiency."