Last month, Sega released the Yakuza: Like a Dragon soundtrack and I have been listening to the album on repeat since it was released. I have probably listened to War Maker at least 100 times at this point. While listening, I was reminded of all the amazing karaoke songs featured in the game. Karaoke has been a common mini game in the Yakuza games since I started playing the series with Yakuza 3. Sometimes you need to take a break from all the fighting and just sing out your emotions. Yakuza Like A Dragon expands that by increasing your friendship as the group chills at Survive Bar and sings with one another. Hell Stew has easily become my favorite karaoke song of the series.
The moment I saw Hell Stew, I knew at some point I would be making a recipe for this. And that moment has finally arrived. When coming up with this recipe, I used information from the lyrics and the music video. Cabbage, pork, onions, kimchi, and tofu were all must-have ingredients for the recipe. In the video, it does look like pork belly is being held up at one point but I personally like this style of soup with meatballs. Feel free to swap the ground meat with something to your liking. This recipe makes a lot of servings, so feel free to reduce this recipe in half if needed. This will probably give you about 8 to 10 meals. Make sure to invite a few of your friends to help you enjoy this hellish stew.
Broth
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 kombu
3 scallions, cut into large pieces
1 whole garlic, cut in half
2 inch piece of ginger, sliced
3 dried shiitake mushrooms
½ tbsp sichuan peppercorns
1 tbsp black peppercorns
Combine the chicken broth, water, kombu, scallions, garlic, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, sichuan peppercorns, and black peppercorns in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to just before a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour. Strain and set aside.
Pork Meatballs
1 ½ lbs ground pork
2 tsp ginger, grated
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
⅔ cup panko
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 scallions, chopped
½ tsp ground pepper
Combine all the ingredients until it just comes together. Split and shape into equal sized meatballs. Set aside.
Hell Stew
1 cup kimchi cabbage, roughly chopped
1 king oyster mushroom, sliced
2 tsp gochugaru
1 ½ tbsp gochujang
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp (30 ml) sake
¼ cup kimchi juice
2 tbsp aka miso
1 carrot, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
5 napa cabbage leaves, sliced thick
8 oz (226 g) extra firm tofu, cut into large portions
1 bunch of enoki mushrooms
1 bunch of shimeji mushrooms
3 scallions, cut into 3-inch pieces
Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of canola oil. Add the kimchi and king oyster mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the gochujang, gochugaru, sugar, sake, and kimchi juice. Mix until well combined. Add the broth and aka miso, stir until everything is mixed together.
Place the cabbage, tofu, pork meatballs, enoki mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, and scallions into the pot.
Allow the broth to come to a slight boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Serve with udon.
Hell Stew
Ingredients
Broth
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups water
- 1 kombu
- 3 scallions cut into large pieces
- 1 whole garlic cut in half
- 2 inch piece of ginger sliced
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
- ½ tbsp sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
Pork Meatballs
- 1 ½ lbs ground pork
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp ginger grated
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ⅔ cup panko
- 2 scallions chopped
- ½ tsp ground pepper
Hell Stew
- 1 cup kimchi cabbage roughly chopped
- 1 king oyster mushroom sliced
- 1 ½ tbsp gochujang
- 2 tsp gochugaru
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp 30 ml sake
- ¼ cup kimchi juice
- 2 tbsp aka miso
- 1 carrot peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 5 napa cabbage leaves sliced thick
- 8 oz 226 g extra firm tofu, cut into large portions
- 1 bunch of enoki mushrooms
- 1 bunch of shimeji mushrooms
- 3 scallions cut into 3-inch pieces
Instructions
Broth
- Combine the chicken broth, water, kombu, scallions, garlic, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, sichuan peppercorns, and black peppercorns in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to just before a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour. Strain and set aside.
Pork Meatballs
- Combine all the ingredients until it just comes together. Split and shape into equal sized meatballs. Set aside.
Hell Stew
- Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of canola oil. Add the kimchi and king oyster mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the gochujang, gochugaru, sugar, sake, and kimchi juice. Mix until well combined. Add the broth and aka miso, stir until everything is mixed together.
- Place the cabbage, tofu, pork meatballs, enoki mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, and scallions into the pot.
- Allow the broth to come to a slight boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Serve with udon.