Nikujaga - literally 'meat and potatoes' - is the dish Japanese home cooks make when they want comfort in a bowl. Thin slices of beef simmer with potatoes, carrot and onion in a gently sweet broth of dashi, soy and mirin.
The potatoes soak up the broth as they soften, going almost creamy at the edges, and the whole pot tastes even better the next day. It's the kind of dish nobody makes a fuss over in Japan because everyone's mum makes it.
There's nothing tricky here - it's a one-pot simmer that mostly looks after itself.
