Having spent a lot of time in Philadelphia, I used to go down to South Street and enjoy the amazing food that the city in known for.  And there is no food that says Philly more than a Philadelphia Cheese steak.  I remember standing in line and choosing my steak out of a window and then watching the fry cooks prepare my steak on the griddle, melt the cheese, fry up any extras such as mushrooms, pepper or onions, and then load it all onto a roll and wrap it in paper for me to eat while standing at a table.  Over the year, cheesesteaks became very popular, and now you can even find them at a few spots in Japan!   But I do not live in one of those spots, so I make my own- and you can as well!

A basic cheesesteak only needs three ingredients – bread, cheese, and steak.  But each ingredient needs to be carefully selected to make the perfect cheesesteak.  The bread should be submarine shaped and a little hard and flaky on the outside, but soft when you slice it open.  In Japan you can use a butter roll, in the US get a hoagie roll from a bakery.  The meat should be a tender cut of beef, thinly sliced.  In the US you can by Steak-Ums or Minute Steaks if `you cannot find thin slices, and in Japan, sliced Sukiyaki beef works perfectly.  The cheese is really up to you – use your favorite.  Swiss, Cheddar, American or white cheese all work well.  But use slices for this recipe.  The salt, pepper and onion powder are delicious- but they are optional as well.

You can also fry onions, peppers, mushrooms, or even pepperoni along with the steak to get the perfect taste.  And don’t forget the tomato ketchup which is the perfect condiment to go with it.