Soy Milk Clams Hot Pot
This soy milk clams hot pot (nabe) is a recipe for a small hot pot for one (to two persons). I made this for my brunch, before I go to the office in the afternoon. Even though my hot pot casserole is small, it is filled with a good variety of ingredients. For a change, the soup broth of the day was soy milk miso soup. The soy milk lends a mild yet refreshing, silky touch to the usual hot pot broth and complimented well with the clams. It looked to me like the ingredients were having a relaxing soak in a milk spa :D
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RECIPE INSPIRATION
I have been finding inspiration for cooking these days in different ways. Previously, I was inspired to make air fryer pizza when I saw perfectly-sized air fryer paper liners. This time round, I saw Donki’s unsweetened soy milk and I was instantly attracted by the pretty design of the bottle. Since I enjoyed the taste of the soy milk (unsweetened, creamy and rich), so I decided to use the second bottle I bought for making this soy milk clams hot pot the next day.
TIP FOR MAKING A SMALL HOT POT
I bought this hot pot vegetable set at Don Don Donki too. I think generally Japanese supermarkets sell such vegetable sets. It is a cost and time efficient way for to enjoy a bit of every vegetable (corn, broccoli, mushrooms, carrot, daikon) with napa cabbage as the base. I divided my set to 3 smaller boxes. Then whenever I want to make hot pot or soup, just take out the box from the fridge and it’s ready to use!
INGREDIENTS
These are the main ingredients for soy milk clams hot pot:
The soup broth was made with (A) dashi soup pack and (B) white miso – this dashi miso soup will be used to simmer all the ingredients in the hot pot. At the last stage of cooking, when when all the ingredients are cooked, stir in a small amount of (C) unsweetened soy milk and the hot pot is complete!
(D): My hot pot vegetables consists of napa cabbage with mushrooms, daikon, carrot, corn, broccoli and scallion.
(E): As for the main protein, I used frozen clams – only 10 but they were plump & juicy! The clams also go well with the soy milk hot pot broth. I added the frozen clams directly to the hot pot without thawing, so it was very fast and easy.
STEP-BY-STEP
Steps to making soy milk clams hot pot in an earthen nabe pot:
- Cook the hot pot vegetables in dashi miso soup broth. When the vegetables are done, add clams (frozen or fresh).
- Cover the claypot with lid and simmer for about 2 minutes. When the clams are cooked, take them out and set aside on the plate.
- Add soy milk to thicken the broth and warm up the milky soup using low heat.
- Return the cooked clams to the hot pot and it is done!
Soy Milk Clams Hot Pot Recipe
Once the soy milk is added, use low heat to slowly warm up the contents. Using high heat will result in unsightly soy milk curds.
Since this is a mini hot pot, you can buy a hot pot vegetable set from Japanese supermarkets for a variety of hot pot vegetables in one pack.
To cook and serve this hot pot directly, use a fitting Japanese-style shallow hot pot casserole.
Check out the ingredients and step-by-step photos on the previous page.
Ingredients:
- 700ml water
- 1 dashi soup pack
- 1 tbsp white miso paste to taste
- 10 or more cleaned clams no need to thaw if using frozen
- 75-100ml unsweetened soy milk to taste; add it slowly for preferred milky taste
Hot pot ingredients
I bought a hot pot vegetables set from the Japanese supermarket (Donki). It was a convenient and cost-effective way to gather a few of each ingredient when making a small hot pot.
- 100g napa cabbage
- a small piece of corn
- 1-2 large carrot slices
- 1-2 large shiitake mushrooms
- 1/3 Japanese scallion cut to short sections
- a small bunch hon shimeji and/or enoki mushroom
- 1-2 pieces daikon
- 1-2 broccoli florets
Directions:
- Make dashi miso soup broth. In a small soup pot, add dashi soup pack to boiling water. Cook according to timing indicated for the soup pack, around 3 minutes. Take out the soup pack and turn off the heat. Dissolve white miso paste to the soup while it is hot. Season to taste.
- Cook the vegetables. In a Japanese style nabe hot pot (wide and shallow), add napa cabbage first, followed the rest of the hot pot ingredients. Add dashi miso soup broth to cover the ingredients. Simmer for a few short minutes with the lid on, until the vegetables are just cooked.
- Add clams to the hot pot, cover with lid and cook for about 2 minutes, or until all the clams open. Take out the clams and set aside on plate to make room for adding the soy milk and also to prevent the clams from overcooking.
- Add the soy milk, stir well and warm the soup broth on low heat to prevent milk curds.
- Return the clams back into the casserole and serve immediately. Enjoy on its own, with rice or cooked udon.