we had our sukiyaki! i put yam noodles, broiled tofu (cut into rectangles), sliced shitake, beef slices into the rice cooker, poured in plenty of sauce (sugar, sake and soy sauce mostly) and left it for an hour to simmer. i was very glad i had bought real sukiyaki-cut beef instead of the cheap beef shavings i ordinarily buy. thinks: it's meant to be bear's birthday, we shan't stinge. we'll treat ourselves to the real thing for once, instead of the shavings. and so i had blade-thin, beautifully streaky beef, from a respectable part of the cow, and the fat melted away and afterwards i had a beef broth that was fragrant, dark, fatty, sweet. a waste to pour away, so i used it to cook noodles which i shall have ffor breakfast tomorrow.