Yosenabe (Japanese Hot Pot)
I saw an online comment that Japanese hot pot is like “fine dining for lazy people” and I couldn’t agree more. Yosenabe (寄せ鍋) literally means “putting anything” such as meat, seafood, vegetables and tofu together in a donabe (Japanese earthen clay pot) to cook as a one-dish hot pot meal. When the ingredients are arranged prettily in the clay pot for the first round of serving, it does look so appealing. To me the best part of this dish is that you let your diners do the cooking :p
Related Recipes:
I like the “anything” concept. This version is chicken, hotate and oysters. You can use shabu shabu pork, wagyu beef, crab, clams, sliced fish or prawns instead – basically anything accessible at the moment.
When ready to serve, fill the earthen pot with a quick-preparing dashi or miso soup stock, cover with lid and bring the contents to a simmer on a portable stove at the dining table. The remaining ingredients are arranged in a communal platter. This is one sociable dish where family and friends gather over the course of an hour or so at the dining table. It is also perfect for the colder seasons and rainy days.
These are two easy sauces for Japanese hot pot which I also used for Sukiyaki. One is roasted sesame sauce (known as “goma”; pictured above, left) while the other is a citrus-based soy sauce (ponzu shoyu) with grated radish and chopped scallions.
Traditional Japanese nabe uses a donabe (eathern clay pot). I bought a simple and inexpensive clay pot (less than S$10) from a local household shop. I like that it is quite shallow and wide so that all the ingredients can be seen.
These are the ingredients I used for my yosenabe.
Yosenabe Recipe ("Put Anything" Japanese Hot Pot)
Feel free to adapt the ingredients listed from (B) to (D) with your favourite seasonal ingredients.
Ingredients:
(A) Soup Base
- 750 ml water
- 1 tbsp dashi powder
- 1/2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce to taste
(B) Vegetables
- 200 grams firm (pressed) tofu cut to 2 cm pieces
- a few napa cabbage leaves cut to bite-sized chunks
- 100 grams Japanese shingiku (chrysanthemum greens; substitute with local ‘tang oh’) cut to 5 cm lengths
- small handful assorted mushrooms such as enoki mushrooms & hon shimeji ends trimmed
- 6 shiitake mushrooms stalks removed; make a 6-star pattern on each mushroom cap
- 2 Japanese scallion (negi) sliced white portion at a slant to 2.5cm length
- 8 thinly sliced carrots cut to flowers
(C) Meat, Seafood & Fish Cake
- 200 grams fresh boneless chicken thigh cut to bite-sized pieces
- 8 cooked scallop (hotate) thaw if using frozen
- 8 large oysters thaw if using frozen
- 8 thin slices kamaboko
- 3 pieces (tubes) chikuwa cut at a slant to 2.5 cm length
(D) Others
- 1-2 packet udon or 1 bowl cooked short-grain rice/multigrain rice
- 100 grams prepared shirataki noodles (ito konyaku) blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes, submerge cooked noodles in cold water bath for a few minutes; drained
(E) Ponzo Sauce Dipping
- 2 tbsp grated daikon (white radish)
- 2 tbsp chopped spring onions
- 3 tbsp ponzo sauce
(F) Sesame Sauce Dipping
- 4 tbsp roasted sesame sauce
- 1/2 tbsp seasoned sushi vinegar
- 1 tsp mirin
You also need
- Donabe or earthen clay pot can use any pot if not available
- Portable Stove
Directions:
- Make the soup base by bringing (A) in a small pot to a simmer. Season to taste.
- Prepare ingredients (B), (C) and (D). Arrange a bit of each ingredient attractively in a donabe (claypot) and place the rest of the ingredients in a platter. Prepare dipping sauces (E) and (F).
- When ready to serve, fill donabe with soup. Cover the pot with lid and gradually bring to a simmer.
- Enjoy your hot pot with dipping sauces at the side, topping up regularly with more soup stock and ingredients from the platter.
Noob Cook Tip
- After you cooked all the meat and vegetables, add a bowl of cooked rice or some udon to the remaining broth, season with a bit of soy sauce and pour a beaten egg over the rice or noodles.
- You can also dissolve some miso paste to make this miso-flavoured.