Osaka-style sukiyaki, the holy grail of sukiyaki meals, served up with A5 wagyu. Get it at Japanese restaurant Ri He (日和寿喜烧), located on the ground floor of Arch Walk mall in Gubei.
What is sukiyaki?
Sukiyaki is a one-pot dish whereby ingredients are simmered with sukiyaki sauce (warishita), which is usually made with equal parts soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake. It typically consists of beef, accompanied with vegetables.
There are two styles of sukiyaki, Kanto-style, where ingredients are boiled in warishita, and Kansai-style (Osaka-style) or “dry sukiyaki”, whereby meats are first grilled and then combined with warishita. Ri He does the latter.
A5 Sukiyaki in Shanghai
A cast iron pan is first greased with beef fat. Then wagyu—gigantic sheets of thinly sliced marbled beef—is grilled in the pan, then warishita is poured over to finish cooking. This is all done by the restaurant’s expert staff, who are meticulous and careful to not overcook the precious meat. Ri He has individual burners for each table.
Everyone gets an individual bowl of raw egg, which you’re meant to whip up and use to dip your beef into. Cooked beef slices are served directly into the egg bowls. Enjoy immediately.
The first bite is ambrosial. Ultra-tender, fat-rich beef coated in an umami sauce with a sheen of creamy egg. It’ll make your eyes roll into the back of your head — pure bliss.
Once all the meat is done, vegetables of cabbage, tofu, leek, mushrooms, onions, and scallions are added to the pot.
Then, once the vegetables are cooked and served, udon noodles are cooked in the remaining sauce.
What To Order
Menus at Ri He are all handwritten in Chinese. There’s a solo set for ¥788 that includes A5, A4, and A3, plus veg and udon. Or a sharing set for three people, ¥1,680 for 600g worth of A5 and A4, veg, and udon. I ordered the latter with additional portions of meat.
If your phone translation app doesn’t work, staff are helpful in suggesting something to suit your party.
The Space
Seating is mostly private rooms with tatami seating, the comfortable kind with leg room under the table. There’s also outdoor seating, but the private rooms seem much nicer.
Ri He Sukiyaki 日和寿喜烧
Address: L119-120, Arch Walk Mall, 179 Maotai Lu 茅台路179号金虹桥商场1楼L119-120
Tel: 62283576
Hours: Daily, 11:30am-2pm, 5:30pm-11:30pm
