1. Place the beef in your freezer for about 30 minutes, or only long enough to stiffen it slightly for easier slicing. Then, with a heavy, sharp knife, cut the beef against the grain into slices 1/8 inch thick, and cut the slices in half crosswise.
2. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and drop in the shirataki; return to the boil. Drain and cut the noodles into thirds.
3. Scrape the bamboo shoot at the base, cut it in half lengthwise, and slice it thin crosswise. Run cold running water over the slices and drain.
4. Arrange the meat, shirataki and vegetables attractively in separate rows on a large platter.
5. If you are using an electric skillet, preheat to 425°. If not, substitute a 10- to 12-inch skillet set over a table burner and preheat for several minutes.
6. Hold the folded strip of fat with chopsticks or tongs and rub it over the bottom of the hot skillet. Add 6 to 8 slices of meat to the skillet, pour in ¼ cup of soy sauce, and sprinkle the meat with 3 tablespoons of sugar. Cook for a minute, stir, and turn the meat over.
7. Push the meat to one side of the skillet. Add about l/3 of the scallions, onion, mushrooms, tofu, shirataki, greens and bamboo shoot in more or less equal amounts; sprinkle them with ¼ cup sake and cook for an additional 4 to 5 minutes.
8. With chopsticks or long-handled forks (such as fondue forks), transfer the contents of the pan to individual plates and serve. Continue cooking the remaining sukiyaki batch by batch, checking the temperature of the pan from time to time (see Nabemono section).
9. If it seems too hot and the food begins to stick or burn, lower the heat or cool the pan more quickly by adding a drop or two of cold water to the sauce.
