Horumonyaki: Japanese Grilled Offal, Made Here with Beef Offal and Miso (ホルモン焼き)

Horumonyaki: One Name, Many Kinds of Offal and Sauce

Carrot strips and bean sprouts go into a pan of sesame oil first and are moved onto the plate. Then, in that same pan over high heat, parboiled pieces of beef offal are stir-fried and a miso seasoning is coated on until it clings to them. A little scallion and white sesame finish the plate. That is the shape of the dish in this article.

The name alone does not fix the animal, the cut or the seasoning. The Japan Meat Information Service Center describes dishes made with the offal of cattle, pigs, chickens and other animals as horumon ryōri (offal dishes), and describes horumonyaki (also called motsuyaki) as a dish in which various parts of the offal are grilled with salt or a sauce. So horumonyaki is not one fixed recipe. Part of its appeal is that the cut you choose changes the dish.

This article picks one written version: Mizkan's foodservice recipe "Miso Horumonyaki" (味噌ホルモン焼き), made with beef offal and a specified pork-bone miso soup base. It is one example within the range of horumonyaki, not the single standard form. It is also different from regional dishes such as Atsugi's pork-based horumon, and from horumonyaki udon, which is a separate dish cooked with udon noodles.

This Version: Raw Beef Offal, Parboiled, Then Coated in Miso

The Mizkan recipe starts from raw beef offal (牛もつ, gyū motsu). The method tells you to parboil it and drain off the water (yudekoboshi), then stir-fry it and add the soup base. It does not name which part of the offal is used, so this article does not call it small intestine, large intestine, tripe, liver or any other specific cut.

The amounts hang together through two notes in the recipe. Raw beef offal is said to come to roughly 70% of its weight after this preparation, and the soup base is added at 15% of the prepared offal's weight. Starting from 300g raw, that suggests about 210g after parboiling, and 15% of 210g is the 31.5g of soup base listed. The 70% figure is approximate, so you are not guaranteed exactly 210g in your own kitchen.

This is why the recipe is not built for offal that is already boiled or already seasoned. Those products start from a different weight and state, and nothing in the recipe supports using the same 300g and 31.5g with them. The recipe also does not state a number of servings, so this article treats the amounts as one batch.

Offal Safety: Freshness Alone Is Not Enough

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare warns that raw or undercooked meat and offal carry a risk of food poisoning regardless of how fresh they are, and advises cooking meat and organ meats such as liver well before eating. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries advises heating meat and offal thoroughly to the center, and using separate chopsticks and utensils for raw meat and for food that has already been cooked.

Neither the Mizkan recipe nor these public guidelines give a center temperature or a cooking time for this dish or for a particular cut of offal, so this article does not set one. Parboiling is a preparation step in the recipe; do not treat it as proof that the offal is safe. Cook the offal until it is thoroughly done to the center, follow any cooking and handling instructions on the pack, and switch to clean utensils once it is cooked.

Ingredients: Raw Beef Offal, Carrot, Bean Sprouts and Pork-Bone Miso

Amounts for one batch.

The 31.5g of soup base is 15% of the offal's weight after parboiling. 300g of raw offal comes to roughly 70% after parboiling, about 210g, but the actual weight can vary.

Buying Beef Offal and the Soup Base

Check the label for the cut of beef offal. If the label does not tell you which part it is, ask the seller.

Choose raw beef offal. Boiled or pre-seasoned offal does not fit the 300g raw offal and 31.5g soup base ratio, which assumes raw offal that loses about 30% of its weight during parboiling. A version using pre-cooked offal would need its own separate recipe.

The specified Mizkan foodservice soup base combines a white broth of pork bone and chicken bone with rice and soybean miso, plus garlic sautéed in sesame oil and chicken fat. It is sold nationwide in Japan in a 1,100g size. Check with stores or Mizkan for stock and price. There is no direct substitute here: another miso sauce would make a different dish with its own amounts, not a 1:1 swap.

Equipment

• Saucepan, for parboiling the offal
• Colander or sieve, for draining
• Frying pan
• Knife and cutting board for the carrot
• Cutting board, tray and chopsticks or tongs used only for raw offal
• Clean chopsticks or tongs for the cooked offal
• Serving plate

Method: Parboil the Offal, Plate the Vegetables, Then Glaze the Offal

When Things Don't Line Up: Common Problems

Other Ways Horumonyaki Is Made

The Japan Meat Information Service Center's description covers a wide range: the offal can come from cattle, pigs, chickens and other animals, the parts vary, and the seasoning can be salt or a sauce. Changing any of these moves you away from this recipe, and the amounts above do not carry over.

A well-known regional example is Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture. The prefecture's official tourism site describes Atsugi's horumon as pork offal cut into chunks with the fat left on, eaten with a rich miso sauce. It is a dish with its own local name, not a version of this beef-offal recipe.

Within this recipe, the main optional element is in the parboiling water. The green part of a long onion, ginger peel and shochu are suggested for a better finish, without amounts. They are flavoring additions, not a safety step.

The Name and a Regional Story

In Japanese, horumon ryōri covers dishes made from the offal of cattle, pigs, chickens and other animals, and horumonyaki (or motsuyaki) is the grilled branch of that family, seasoned with salt or a sauce. The cut of offal, the animal and the seasoning are all choices, which is why one restaurant's horumonyaki can look quite different from another's. For more dishes from the country, see Japan.

Kanagawa's official tourism site connects Atsugi's horumon to local pig farming and a pork processing plant, and says there have been horumonyaki shops in the area since the postwar years. That is the story of one place. This article does not take a position on where the dish or its name first came from across Japan.

Horumonyaki udon is a separate dish. It cooks offal together with udon noodles and vegetables, so it should not be confused with the plate described here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is horumonyaki always made with beef?

No. The Japan Meat Information Service Center describes offal dishes as using the organs of cattle, pigs, chickens and other animals, and horumonyaki as grilling various parts with salt or a sauce. This article uses beef offal because the Mizkan recipe it follows calls for beef offal.

Which cut of beef offal does this recipe use?

The Mizkan recipe does not say. It lists only "beef offal" (牛もつ). Check the pack's label for the cut and ask the seller if it isn't shown, but keep in mind that whatever you choose is not confirmed as the cut the recipe had in mind.

Can I use pre-boiled beef offal in the same amounts?

The recipe starts from 300g of raw beef offal and assumes roughly 70% remains after parboiling, which is what makes 31.5g of soup base (15% of the prepared weight) fit. Pre-boiled offal starts from a different weight and state, so there is no basis for using the same amounts. This article does not treat it as the same recipe.

How many minutes should I cook the offal?

The Mizkan recipe gives no cooking time or center temperature, and neither do the government guidelines for this dish. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare advises cooking meat and offal well because freshness alone does not remove the risk, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries advises heating to the center. Cook until thoroughly done to the center and follow the pack's instructions.

Can I use a different miso sauce?

The recipe is written around one named Mizkan product, and no substitute has been worked out. A different sauce would change the dish and its amounts, so it is not a direct swap.

How many servings does this make?

The recipe does not state a number of servings. The amounts are presented as one batch.

Is this the same as horumonyaki udon?

No. Horumonyaki udon cooks offal together with udon noodles and vegetables. It is a different dish with its own name.

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