Nabe (Japanese Hot Pot) and Udon noodles

Nabe ingredients are cooked at the table over gas burners

A nabe in Japan is a pot used for cooking a meal which is also called a nabe. The pots can be ceramic or cast iron. The origin of this cooking process goes back to cooking over a hearth "irori" style, of Japan of the old days. This simple shared meal is cooked as you eat it, with each diner cooking their own. It is popular in the cold winter months. I remember eating one once in  Nagano in a ski lodge surrounded by deep snow, when it was -17 C degrees outside. There would be 100's of variations of nabe. The first recipe given here would classify as a "yose" nabe, or all thrown in mixed nabe.

Serves 6 to 8

1 piece piece kelp (konbu), about 10cm x 10cm, or 2 teas kelp (konbu) dashi, or bonito dashi

500g chicken thighs (skinless and boneless)

500g firm white fish fillets (such as hoki)

8 large prawns

8-10 scallops (optional)

250g tofu, cut into cubes

¼ Chinese cabbage (hakusai), chopped into bite size pieces

2 long onions (naga-negi), or use leeks or spring onions, cut into 5cm (2in) lengths

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

100g fresh shiitake mushrooms

50g shimeji mushrooms

50g enoki mushrooms (if available)

50ml soy sauce

1 lemon, quartered

Small piece daikon (Japanese radish), finely grated

800g pre-cooked udon noodles, or cooked rice

nabe platter ready to be cooked

 

1.       Prepare the nabe ingredients and arrange on a platter. Set aside.

2.       Place cold water in the nabe pot, filling to about 2/3’s full.

3.       Add the kelp and bring to a gentle boil, to just a simmer.

4.       Remove the kelp (or add dashi powder if using that instead).

5.       Add some of each of the nabe ingredients, to begin cooking them.

Cooked nabe ingredients

6.      Place a little grated daikon, soy sauce and lemon juice in dinners bowls, and add some broth from the nabe pot, to use as a dipping sauce for the nabe ingredients.

7.      Diners can take what they like from the nabe pot, using the other end of their chopsticks, and dip it into their individual dipping bowl before eating it.

Cooked nabe ingredients in a small dipping bowl

8.     Refill the nabe pot with the nabe ingredients and keep cooking and eating, until little is left. 

9.  At this stage rice or udon noodles can be added to the broth to finish off the meal.

Note: Any recipe for udon noodles in a broth is a variation on a nabe (hot-pot) style meal, in terms of ingredients. It does not have to be cooked at the table little by little.

Udon noodles, broth and vegetables