Nabemono 鍋物

Nabe 鍋 means "pot". Nabemono is an all inclusive term of any hot pot dish but often the dish itself is called "nabe". Any dish you cook (usually on the table) in a pot (most often earthenware) with broth is called "nabe" or "nabemono". Sukiyaki  すき焼き, shabu-shabu しゃぶしゃぶ and oden おでん may be considered types of nabe in a broad sense but I do not think it is appropriate to include them in "nabemono". Depending on the ingredients and seasoning of the broth, you have many variations and many names of "nabe". Whatever the name, in cold winter days, nabemono is one of the most comforting  and warming dishes. The types of broth seasonings could be;

1) Dashi without seasoning; When your broth is not seasoned, you use a dipping sauce such as ponzu. Tarachirinabe タラちり鍋. Mizutaki 鶏の水炊き, and Yudoufu 湯豆腐 are three such examples.

2) Dashi and soy sauce based; Yosebabe 寄せ鍋 is the best example.

3) Dashi and miso based; Chankonabe  ちゃんこ鍋, Ishikarinabe 石狩鍋, and Dotenabe 土手鍋 are three such examples.

Since other ingredients will impart lots of flavor to the broth, the starting broth is usually a simple kelp broth. In terms of the ingredients, you could limit them to only a few items (like yudoufu in which only tofu or tofu and nappa cabbage are usually used) or you could add anything including sea food, meat, vegetables, tofu, fish cake and more, as is done in chankonabe and yosenabe. There are no rules (although there are some guide lines). The name of the nabe changes based on the ingredients, locality, and types of broth.

Here is one example I made one evening in a small one person pot. I am not sure what I should call this. A type of yosenabe but I used mostly vegetables and at the very end decided to add shrimp. I first made dashi from kelp and a "dashi pack". This is like a tea bag but instead of tea, combination of pulverized bonito flakes, dried fish and kelp (there are several different kinds) are placed in the bag. It is much better than granulated instant dashi but still very convenient. I seasoned the broth with mirin, sake and soy sauce (to taste, since I did not measure). I started with the ingredients which take the longest time to cook. In my case, I added daikon (halved and thinly sliced) and carrot (sliced a bit thicker than the daikon) first, then after 10 minutes or so, I added the white part of Nappa cabbage or Hakusai 白菜, tofu 豆腐, followed by (after 5 minutes) maitake mushroom 舞茸, green parts of Nappa, scallion, and finally shrimp.

The ingredients I could have added include fish (usually a white meat, hardy fish such as cod), chicken (cut up thigh meat), fish cakes, and shell fish. As a condiment, I used seven flavored Japanese red pepper powder 七味唐辛子. To finish the meal, I could have added cooked rice to make porridge, or noodles such as udon noodles but I was too full just eating the items I cooked. Traditionally, warm sake is the choice of drink but we like cold sake even in winter and with nabe.

Seafood nabe on a snowy day 雪降りの夕の海鮮鍋

As the weather got colder our thoughts turned to having Japanese hot pot or nabe 鍋 for dinner. This week we had some snow and our backyard was transformed to a winter wonderland; perfect time for nabe. So we decided to have one using whatever ingredients we had on hand.

We used to cook nabes on a portable gas cooker with a butene fuel canister but both the cooker and the canisters became so old we started worrying about how safe they were. Fortunately after we used up the canisters several years ago. We switched to a table top induction cooker (or Japanese will say IH or induction heater).  Making Sukiyaki すき焼き on this type of cooker works well because a sukiyaki nabe pot is usually made of cast iron but other earthenware or pottery pots or nabes won’t work. Then, we discovered an induction-cooker-compatible nabe pot. (It has a magnetic metal disk embedded in the bottom). With it,  we can do a nabe at the table without having to use a gas canister fuel source. 

I checked our freezer and refridgerator and decided we could do a sea food nabe or “kaisen-nabe” 海鮮鍋. We defrosted, scallops, cod, pacific oyster (this is the second time we used frozen Pacific oyster which worked well as a fry) and shrimp. We also had fresh shiitake and  nappa cabbage but not other green leafy vegetables. In any case, we set up our nabe feast.

I started the broth by soaking kelp in the nabe pot in cold water for several hours.  In the evening, I put the pot with the kelp in it on the induction cooker. Once the water came to a boil, I removed the kelp. I then added the shrimp shells and once the color of the shells changed I continued simmering for a few minutes, I the removed the shrimp shells.  I seasoned the broth with white dashi “Shiro-dashi” 白だしand light colored soy sauce making a very gentle broth. I started cooking the hard part of the nappa cabbage as well as the other vegetables. We also had some decent firm tofu from Whole Foods which I added. Next came daikon, carrot and potato, all precooked in the microwave oven.

Our seafood lineup is shown below (all frozen, and thawed in the refrigerator). It included shrimp, scallop (from Great Alaska Seafood), Pacific oysters (from Vital choice wild sea food and organics) and cod (from Whole foods). This was the second time we used frozen Pacific oysters. The first time I made fried oysters.  These were much better than the small fragmented fresh or pasteurized  oysters we sometimes get.

The picture below shows the vegetables which waiting to be put into the nabe; the leafy portion of nappa cabbage, tofu, shiitake mushroom, precooked daikon, potato, and carrot. 

We made sure the seafood was not overcooked. We also used  ponzu sauce as we were eating. This was a fun dinner perfect with the snowy winter outside and the steaming body warming nabe inside. We had warm sake (“Hakutsuru Ginjo 白鶴吟醸) to boot. Of course, there were leftovers. Classically, Japanese will end the nabe by adding rice or noodles into the remaining broth to make a “shime” 〆 final dish but we were too full and the next day, we made rice porridge with eggs for lunch.

Oyster and tofu "nabe" in miso broth 牡蛎の味噌鍋

It is getting cold especially in the morning and evening here in DC. We even had snow. We are definitely getting into "Nabe"  鍋 season. When I posted "Nabemono" 鍋物, I mentioned "Dotenabe" 土手鍋, which is famous in the Hiroshima 広島 region. It uses miso smeared (or "schmeared" in NY and NJ) around the rim of a pot (resembling a "bank" made of soil, "dote" 土手 in Japanese, along the river)  with dashi broth poured in the center of the pot. You dissolve the miso into the broth as you cook. Oysters, for which Hiroshima is famous, among other ingredients, have to be included, in this nabe dish. I found a variation of this dish in the 1st volume of "Otsumami Yokocho" おつまみ横町 P149, I decided to make this nabe dish. When I was choosing which vessel I was going to use for this dish, I found this one (below). I completely forgot that we had it. It is a miniature (about 7-8 inches), imitation cast iron (I guess it is made of cast aluminum with anonized surface) "nabe" with a wooden lid. It is a perfect vessel for this dish.

Here it is when the lid was lifted and the oysters were revealed. When I read the recipe, I immediately thought I had to modify this. The seasoning broth, as instructed, would be too salty and way too sweet for our taste. Besides, I needed some green.

Oyster: The oysters we got were not the best. I bought some already shucked and in a plastic container (I am no sure if they had been pasteurized, probably not). There were a total of 10-12 medium to small oysters. I washed them in salted water, drained and put them on layers of paper towels.

Tofu: I used 3/4 leftover tofu from when I made other dish. I cut it into cubes as seen above.

Miso broth: This is where I deviated from the recipe. I mixed sake (1/2 cup), miso (1.5 tbs or a bit more), and sugar (0.5 tbs). The original calls for sake (1/4 cup), miso (3 tbs) and sugar (1 tbs). In addition, imitating the traditional "dotenabe" flavor, I char the surface of the miso lightly using a small kitchen blow torch (every home cook should have one) to enhance the fragrant flavor of miso before dissolving it in sake.

After the miso broth came to a simmer, I added the tofu and when it was warmed through, I added the oysters and scallions and cooked for a few minutes or until the oysters are just cooked. Although this may not be enough even for one (you big eaters out there), we shared this. I served this in small individual bowls and, before eating, we sprinkled "sansho" 山椒 powder. You have to have sake with this. The broth was surprisingly good. Even though I reduced the amount of sugar, the broth was slightly sweet but also very delicate and excellent. Although this dish was wonderful and we enjoyed it, we could have had better quality oysters. Especially when you use oysters which can be eaten raw, slightly undercooking oysters is the best way to enjoy this nabe. 

Monkfish karaage アンコウの唐揚げ

We used to get monkfish or anglerfish 鮟鱇 tail meat fillet at our nearby fish market but, for some reason, we have not seen it for some time. Since we now occasionally go to a different grocery store to get pasteurized shell eggs, we checked their fish department and found monkfish.

Monkfish is an interesting deep water fish and Japanese eat almost every part of this ugly fish. I posted several Ankimo 鮟肝 or monkfish liver dishes--the liver is the best part of the monkfish. One of the most popular Japanese ways to cook monkfish is as a nabe 鍋 dish called "Ankou nabe" アンコウ鍋 in which the meat, liver, skin and even cartilage are cooked in miso flavored broth with vegetables. This fish has a very firm texture somewhat resembling lobster tail but does not have a strong taste. I used to bake this fish fillet imitating lobster tail by using paprika to give it a red "lobster" color. This time I decided to make a portion of it as "karaage" 唐揚げ. It is very similar to chicken "Tatsuta-age" 竜田揚げ in terms of how this is made.

The fillet has a slimy membrane covering the surface. Although once cooked, it is not too bothersome, it is best to remove most of the membrane. I used my fingers to pinch, pull up, and raise the membrane from the surface and slice it horizontally using a fillet knife. This way you could remove most of it without slicing off too much meat but you can decide if this is worth the effort. I cut the fish meat into bite sized chunks and marinate them for several hours in the refrigerator in a mixture of soy sauce, sake and mirin (2:1:1) with grated ginger. Just before cooking, I drain and pat dry with a paper towel and dredge the pieces in potato starch or "Katakuriko" 片栗粉 shaking off any excess flour. Meanwhile I heat up the peanut oil to about 170C (350F). I deep fry the fish until the surface is set and the meat is done (2-3 minutes depending on the size of the chunks).

Although I served this with green tea salt, it has enough seasoning so just lemon juice was fine. It has a nice crunch on the surface with firm texture and very nice flavor. We restrained ourselves and only enjoyed a small amount.

Mini Udon Hotpot ミニ鍋焼きうどん

This is another one of those dishes with which you conclude your Izakaya feast. Last time we were in Kappabashi district in Asakusa 浅草合羽橋, we found this mini-donabe ミニ土鍋, measuring a bit less than 5 inches in the outside diameter, in one of numerous restaurant supply shops which line the streets there. Since we are not big eaters, this is a perfect size for us to have a very small individual nabe dish. Tonight, I made a tiny "nabeyaki udon" ミニ鍋焼きうどん. 

Udon noodle is a thick (as compared to soba), white Japanese noodle made of wheat flour, which can be made at home (I have not tried it), bought frozen or dried. I almost exclusively use dried udon noodles just because it will keep a longtime in the pantry and is convenient. You can get quite a number of different kinds of dried udons from thin to thick. You could use udon like soba (especially thin ones). If you serve it in a warm soy sauce flavored broth, it is called "kake udon" かけうどん and by adding different toppings, it changes its name (this is exactly same for soba). For example, if you add a whole (raw) egg, it is called "Tsukimi Udon" 月見うどん or moon gazing udon (equating an egg yolk for a full moon). You could eat udon with a dipping sauce, called "Tsukeudon" 付けうどん, which is a rather recent invention. One dish in which you almost exclusively use udon noodle but not other noodles is this dish "nabeyaki udon" or udon hotpot. If you make it in a standard individual sized pot (see picture below), it is a classic whole-meal-in-a-pot dish.

I had already cooked udon (I prepare it as per the package instruction, it will keep several days in the refrigerator. This was leftover from making a tarako pasta dish). I place enough to fit in this small donabe pot (probably 1/4 of one standard serving). I use a bottle concentrated noodle sauce diluted in hot water to taste (use hot water to dilute as per instructions on the bottle label but make sure you taste it and adjust the strength). Of course, you could make this from scratch using dashi, mirin, sake, sugar, and soy sauce. I poured the diluted sauce to just cover the noodles. I added fresh shiitake mushroom (use small ones), two shrimp (I used frozen ones), greens (spinach is traditional but you can used anything such as snow peas, green beans, even green asparagus etc.  I used baby arugula here. You could pre-cook them before putting in or, like I did, just put it in over the top of the noodles and put on the lid. After it wilts and decreases in volume, you can rearrange the greens) and scallion sliced on an angle. Put on the lid and simmer for 10 minutes on a very low flame (be careful, it will boil over very easily). I finish the dish by adding half a beaten egg, put the lid back and let it stand for 5 minutes until the egg sets. 

Serve it with Japanese seven flavored red pepper powder or "shichimi togarashi 七味唐辛子 (red cylinder in the picture above). The sake cup is hand cut crystal by Kitaichi glass in Otaru, Hokkaido 北一ガラス、小樽、北海道. When you pour sake into this cup, the cherry blossoms etched on the bottom "float". Since Cheery trees have been in blossom in Washington DC, this is perfect.

Comparison of a standard one-person donabe on the left (about 7-8 inches in diameter) and our mini-donabe on the right.

Pork meat ball Hot Pot 豚ミートボール小鍋仕立て

Hot pot dish called "nabe" 鍋 (which means a "pot") or "nabemono" 鍋物 is a family style homey dish in which a large (usually earthen) pot was placed in the middle of a table on a portable gas or electric cooker. One large pot is shared by the diners and the ingredients are cooked on the table as you eat. This type of communal pot dish is not usual in Izakaya (unless it is a small drinking party held in Izakaya) but a small individual or 2-person nabe is served in Izakaya. Types of nabe are numerous depending on the type of broth and main items you put in it. If the broth is not seasoned, it is usually eaten with a dipping sauce such as "ponzu shoyu" sauce and if the broth is seasoned with either miso or soy sauce, it is eaten as is or with some garnish. After most of the ingredients are consumed a well seasoned savory both is left in a pot. Cooked (leftover) rice or noodles can be added to the broth to make the last starch dish of the meal. It is the best dish to be had in a cold windy night.

We had our first snow of the season in the DC area few days ago and it has been rather cold which prompted me to make this spur-of-the-moment nabe dish using whatever was available. I happened to have extra kelp broth from the night I made the "warm tofu with pork miso sauce". Also, I had stuffing for pork gyoza which I made the night before. So I used these leftovers and made this nabe dish. Instead of a large nabe, I used a small nabe pot usually used to make "nabeyaki Udon" 鍋焼きうどん- a Japanese noodle dish which is cooked and served in a individual pot. I am sure I can post that recipe in near future. The amount is perfect for my wife and I.

For broth, I used kelp broth and seasoned it with sake, mirin, and soy sauce (sorry, all eye-balled and then tasted for further adjustment, no precise amount here). When the broth was hot I used a small ice cream scoop and dropped small balls of the pork mixture for gyoza into the broth. Other ingredients I used were nappa cabbage 白菜 (cut into 2 inch wide pieces), firm tofu 豆腐, daikon 大根 (cut in 1/3 inch-thick, half moon shaped; put diakon in first while the broth is being heated), fresh Shiitake mushrooms 椎茸, and scallion 葱 (cut into 1 inch pieces). I cooked this in the kitchen rather than on the table. This was served in a small bowl with a sprinkling of  Japanese 7 flavored pepper powder 七味唐辛子.

After we finished this dish, I took the nabe back to the kitchen and added cooked rice (as usual frozen one, you could defrost first), added thinly cut napa cabbage (soft green part which I reserved). I added a bit more water since the broth has reduced a bit. Cooked 10 minutes in low heat until the rice was cooked and a "porridge' consistency was achieved. I adjusted the seasoning by adding salt or soy sauce (I used salt). I beat one egg and mixed it into the porridge. I put the lid back on and took the pot off the flame. I waited 5 minutes and then served the porridge.

Tuna and scallion hotpot ねぎま鍋

I found fresh yellow-fin tuna at the near-by grocery store where we buy pasteurized eggs. Although it was said to be "sashimi" grade and looked and smelled fresh, I wasn't going to take any chances. I decided to make this nabe dish called "Negima" nabe ねぎま鍋. "Negi" 葱 is scallion and "ma" is a short for "Maguro" 鮪 or tuna so this is a nabe dish with scallion and tuna. If you have Japanese "naga negi" 長ネギ or Tokyo scallion, which is much thicker than regular scallion, and more closely resembles small leeks, this dish would be better.  I, however, had no choice but to used regular scallion (close to Japanese "ban-nou negi" 万能葱 or "asatsuki" 浅葱). Again, there are many variations of this dish but "negi" and "maguro" are two name-sake must-have items.

Broth: I first made "dashi' broth using kelp and bonio dashi pack (about 500ml). I added sake (2ts), mirin (2 tbs) and "usukuchi" or light colored soy sauce (4 tbs). 

Ingredients: As  you can see below, I cut tuna into pieces that were a bit larger and thicker than sashimi size (1 lb). I also cut the scallion into pieces about 1 inch long on a slant (6, I chose the thickest ones I can find), and tofu (one). Other possible ingredients could include some leafy greens, fresh mushrooms (either enoki or shiitake), and shirataki 白滝.

I started with scallion and tofu. When they were near done, I added the tuna. I tried not to overcook it but it is very very easy to overcook. Once that happens, you could just leave it in a pot to cook it longer which may make it more tender again . I served it with yuzukosho 柚子胡椒 (dark green paste on the small plate).

I think this is an Ok dish but I am not a big fan of cooked tuna. Good tuna is best eaten raw. But on cold nights such as we were still having, this is a very warming dish. Yuzukosho gave a spicy citrusy counter taste to the rather bland taste of cooked tuna. This dish went perfectly with sake.

Mushrooms Udon Bowl きのこ沢山のかけうどん

“Udon” うどん are thick Japanese noodles made from wheat flour, salt and water. I’ve posted many udon dishes over the years. We usually use dried udon noodles because it is convenient. Udon appears to have many regioanl varieties. In Shikoku 四国 and Kansai 関西 (Osaka area),  Sanuki (-style) udon 讃岐風うどん is famous and is characteristically “chewy” as opposed to southern Kyushu 南九州 or Fukuoka 福岡 udon which is famous for its softness. The udon we usually get is somewhere in between. We tend to like thin udon such as “Inaniwa” 稲庭 udon or “Harima thread uson” 播磨糸うどん. I’m not sure what triggered it but we decided to get  frozen Sanuki-style  udon from Weee. The noodles are a bit on the thicker side with a square shape and straight edges (see 2nd picture below) which are characteristics of Sanuki udon or udon in the Kaisai region in general. For lunch, I made “kake-udon” かけうどん which is warm udon in broth. I used whatever was available for topping indluding three kinds of mushrooms (shiitake, maitake and simeji), soft boiled duck egg, simmered pork and edible chrysanthemum.

Underneath the toppings are the Sanuki-udon.

Ingredients: (2 small or half servings)
Mixed fresh mushrooms (I used shiitake sliced, mitake torn into small pices, and shimeji separated)
One package of frozen Sanuki udon, thawed and cooked in boiling water for 3-4 minutes
2 slices of simmered pork
Edible chrysanthemum, blanched
One soft boiled (pasteurized) duck egg, halved
Blanched sugar snaps
Dashi broth
X4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce

Directions:
Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil for a few minutes, add the broth (enough for two bowls) and simmer for a few minutes, add the noodle sauce to taste, place the pork, egg, chrysanthemum, and sugar snaps on the top to warm them up for few minutes
Divide the udon into two bowls, arrange the toppings and pour in the seasoned broth.
Add 7 flavored pepper flakes or “shichi-mi tougarashi 七味唐辛子 (optional)

The udon was really chewy. We like it but it requires a bit of effort (chewing). This type of udon may be perfect for “Nabeyaki udon” 鍋焼きうどん.

Beef with Kon-nyaku and Vegetable “Kimpira” Stir-fry 牛肉と蒟蒻の金平

We were having some very extremely cold and snowy weather recently. One of the best dishes for this kind of cold weather is sukiyaki すき焼きand similar nabe 鍋 dishes. We recently got thinly sliced (2mm in thickness) beef rib eye for sukiyaki from Weee. This is not top quality beef but it is very reasonably  priced and quite good. So, one very cold evening, we cooked sukiyaki at the table and had it with hot sake 燗酒.  The package included 1lb of beef, which was more than we could eat in one sitting so besides the leftover sukiyaki, we had leftover uncooked beef as well. Thinly sliced beef is used in many Japanese dishes but we usually do not have beef (we usually have chicken or pork and occasionally lamb) so I did not have a favorite “go-to” recipe to use the beef.  I looked through some beef recipes on the web but ended up with my own variation (picture #1). We had a cake of kon-nyaku (konjac) 蒟蒻, and an end piece of daikon 大根. So I included those in this dish. Many Japanese dishes call for small Japanese green pepper called “pea-man” ピーマンwhich is quite different from American green pepper. Instead I used, seeded and deveined Jalapeño pepper.  For the seasonings, I added “Douban-jang”. 豆板醤 to add slight heat. For an impromptu dish, everything came together rather nicely. This is a just note to myself so that I can recreate it in the future.

Ingredients:
150gram thinly sliced beef, cut into thin strips (picture below, this was rib eye) (picture #2)
One cake  of kon-nyaku 板コンニャク, washed, par-boiled
One small carrot
2 inch of daikon
One large Jalapeño pepper, seeded and deveined
1 tbs vegetable oil and 1 tsp dark sesame oil

Seasonings:
1 tsp douban-jang (or more if you like spicy)
2 tbs sake
1 tbs mirin
2 tbs soy sauce (I used x4 Japanese noodle sauce)

Directions:
I tried to cut all the vegetables in the same, thin rectangular pieces. I halved the  kon-nyaku cake in thickness, added shallow criss-cross cuts on both sides and cut into the similar rectangular shape but some came out a bit thicker and larger. (Picture #3 from left to right are kon-nyaku, carrot, Jalapeño pepper and diakon).

I added the oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium flame (vegetable plus sesame oil). I added the beef and cooked until almost done and added the remaining vegetables and the kon-nyaku and stir fried for 2-3 minutes.

I added the sake, mirin, and soy sauce. When coming to the boil I added douban-jang (picture #4) and mixed well. Placed the lid on and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes.

I removed the lid and turned the flame to medium high and stirred until the liquid was almost gone. I tasted and adjusted the seasoning. In this case, it came out slightly sweeter than I intended but it had a nice sweet and salty flavor and a mild spicy kick. Certainly, the beef added more flavor. I could have cut the daikon into thicker pieces since it became very soft. The kon-nyaku absorbed the seasonings and added nice texture. We like this dish. It will go with rice or drinks. In our case, probably the latter.

Warm sake and oden on a cold winter's evening 厳寒の冬の夕燗酒とおでん

Since we had some very cold wintery days recently, we enjoyed warm sake several times. One such evening, we had the Japanese classic of hot sake with oden. After I found Hakushika junmai and junmai ginjo 白鹿純米、純米吟醸 (sake in a box) at our Japanese grocery store, these have become our favorite sake served warm or "kanzake" 燗酒. The sake sold this way is usually not the best sake but is still good quality as is the case with these two. Also sake sold in a box costs significantly less than the same sake sold in a bottle. For these reasons, we think these are a good buy. (Other packaging variations may include "cup-sake" or "sake-in-a-can". Cup-sake could be even daiginjo class).

Of course on a cold winter evenings, warm sake is best paired with either oden おでん or nabe 鍋dishes. This time, I made oden. Usually boiled eggs in oden end up hardboiled even if they are soft boiled when put in the broth. So this time I made soft boiled eggs with runny yolks which I kept separate from the rest of the oden, then just 5 minutes before serving I warmed them in the broth.  I put mochi in the deep fried tofu pouches or "abura-age" 油揚げ. Instead of regular potato I used "sato imo" 里芋 or taro.

Although the eggs did not absorb the broth's flavor, the runny yolks were nice for a change. The cylindrical item is fish cake stuffed with burdock root or "Kobo-ten" ごぼう天.  The rest of the items were tofu, shitake mushroom, blanched broccoli and carrot.

On a cold winter evening, this is very warming and comforting.

Udon noodle in hot broth かけうどん

This is again not blogworthy but a perfect ending dish or light lunch. I found a unopened package of dried udon うどん noodle in the pantry. The date of "best used by" had expired by few months. I thought I better use it quickly.

Udon is a type of Japanese noodle made of wheat flour. The ones we can get here is either frozen or dried. Of course, you could make it from scratch if you so prefer. I have posted hand-made udon by Chef Kitayama of Sushi-taro. 

Udon can be eaten many ways; simmered in broth ("Nikomi" udon 煮込みうどん), in hot broth ("Kake" udon かけうどん), cold or hot with a dippin sauce ("Zaru" udon ざるうどん or "Kama-age" udon　釜揚げうどん), cooked in a small individual earthen pot ("Nabeyaki" udon 鍋焼きうどん) etc.  Depending on the topping, it may be called differently such as Kitusne udon きつねうどん (with deep fried tofu pouch), Tanuki udon たぬきうどん (with bits of deep fried tempura without other items), "Tsukini" udon 月見うどん (with a raw egg), "Karei udond" カレーうどん(with curry sauce) etc. 

 The day I made this I had a leftover broth which was made with a dashi pack in the refrigerator. I added mirin, sake, and soy sauce to taste (I am not sure about the amount but I had about 3 cups of broth and I added 2 tbs each. And after tasting it I added more soy sauce).

For basic "kake" udon, only chopped scallion will be the topping but I added whatever I had. I had sake steamed (microwaved) chicken breast, frozen fish cake or chikuwa 竹輪, and "kyo-b(f)u" 京麩. "Fu" 麩 is made of 100% wheat gluten, so if you have gluten sensitive enteropathy, Celiac disease, or otherwise avoiding gluten, this is not for you. For that matter, udon noodle is not for you either. In any case, Kyoto is famous for decorative "fu" called "kyou-bu". It comes dried. I just dump these into the seasoned broth to just warm them up, hydrate or thawed and warm up. I also added chopped (on bias) scallion and Japanese 7 flavored red peper powder 七味唐辛子. Since I had a package of "ajitsuke nori" 味付け海苔 or seasoned nori, I also lined them up at the edge of the bowl. Just before eating, you can put it on the top. This is to prevent the nori to be totally soaked and soft before eating.

This was just OK. the broth was a bit too lightly seasoned. The kyou-bu was apparently too old and had a stale taste. The udon noodle and other items were just fine.

Sautéed Monk fish medallion and liver アンコウのメダリオンとあん肝のソーテー

Monkfish or "ankou" 鮟鱇 is not a very popular fish in the U.S. and unlike in Japan,  the only portion of fish being sold and consumed is the tail meat. For Japanese, the most precious part of monk fish is, of course, the liver. The most common preparation of ankou in Japan must be ankou nabe アンコウ鍋, in which most of the various parts of the fish including skin and liver beside the meat are used. Here is the iron chef Morimoto showing off his skill of disassembling this rather ugly deep sea bottom dwelling fish.

In any case, we have not seen monkfish for some time in the grocery stores but, the other day, we happened to come across fresh monkfish fillets at a near-by market and got it. I have posted several ways of cooking monkfish fillets as well as liver (not raw but previously processed and frozen, which is the only monkfish liver I can get my hands on. Since we had a package of frozen monkfish liver or ankimo あん肝 in the freezer, I decided to make a dish with the both monkfish fillet as well as liver.

Monk fish fillet: I removed the grey slippery membrane which covers one side (skin side) of the fillet without wasting too much meat underneath. If you do not removed this, it will became a tough membrane after cooking and will also shrink more than the meat. I marinated the cleaned fillets in sake for 24 hours (Since I could not cook this immediately, this is a good way to preserve and also removed any fishy smell). Next day, I removed the fillets, dried them with a paper towel, cut into 1 inch think medallions. I seasoned with salt and pepper.

Monk fish liver: This comes in a cylindrical shape in a plastic wrap (shaped into cylindrical shape and steamed) then vacuum packed in an aluminum pouch. I just defrosted it in running cold water. I made 1 inch thick medallions to match the size of the monk fish fillet medallions and dredged in flour.

Cooking: I put light olive oil in a frying pan on low heat and fried three garlic cloves (smashed) for 5-8 minutes until the garlic flavor is transferred to the oil. I then took the garlic out of the pan. I turned the flame to medium high and put in the monkfish fillet and liver medallions. I cooked for less than one minute on each sides and finished in a 400F oven for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes were up, I let it rest for 5 minutes (This is one of the rare fish which, like meat, benefits from resting after cooking).

Sauce: I thought about making a Ponzu-based sauce but settled for my ususal sauce made of orange marmalade and soy sauce.  I first put orange marmalade (3 tbs, I used a “fancy” marmelade with large orange peels in it) in a small frying pan on low heat and added just a small amount of hot water (1 tsp) to facilitate the melting. When the orange marmalade was melted, I added soy sauce (1 tsp). This may sound like a very sweet sauce but it goes well with monkfish liver (or duck breast).

I placed three medallions of monk fish fillets on the bottom and topped each pieces with monk fish liver and drizzled the sauce as you see in the first picture. This is a great dish if I say so myself. The firm texture of the fillets is like lobster tail and the liver is like foie gras, soft, buttery and unctuous. This combination is sublime and the sauce went perfectly. Although this dish could go well with a nice acidic and crisp white wine such as sauvignon blanc, we were drinking cold sake at this point, which was great with this dish.

Of course, before this dish, I served ankimo in a very simple traditional way with ponzu, grated daikon which was sprinkled with Japanese one flavored red pepper flakes or ichimi tougrashi 一味唐辛子. This was mighty fine too!

Salmon "Ishikari-nabe" hotpot 石狩鍋

Ishikari 石狩 was a small coastal town which is located near Sapporo 札幌 where I grew up. Ishikari river 石狩川 drains into Ishikari bay 石狩湾 and to Sea of Japan 日本海 after winding down the ishikari plain. The river flooded often and meandered around. In the interest of efficiency, human intervention made shortcuts and straightened the water ways. As a result scimitar shaped lakes called "Mikazuki-ko" 三日月湖 were left behind. These lakes are mostly located in the area called "Barato" 茨戸, which is between Sapporo and Ishikari. They were separated from the main river but provided good fishing. Over the years Barato has become a suburbs of Sapporo 札幌. It is well developed but some pockets of wilderness remain.

Although Barato is now within commuting distance of Sapporo when my late brother and I were in grade school (9 and 6 respectively) getting there to go fishing was a great adventure--we had to take a bus, which ran infrequently from downtown Sapporo. On one such adventure we were supposed to meet a friend of my father's to go fishing at one of the lakes. He was supposed to wait for us at the designated bus stop in Barato but we somehow missed the stop and ended up at the beach of Ishikari, the terminus of the bus line.  The kindly female conductor (this was a time when all buses had conductors) took pity on us and promised to get us to the right bus stop on the return run to Sapporo. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the bus ran only infrequently and the return trip did not occur until that afternoon. So there we were, two waifs, stranded at the desolate Ishikari beach for several hours getting hungry. The kind conductor once again took pity and bought us a bowl of Ishikari-nabe, for which the city is known, from the near-by eatery where she and the driver were eating lunch. I cannot tell you how great it tasted. The dish I made today was Ishikai-nabe. Making it, smelling it and eating it brought back the long ago memory and evoked this long preamble. 

Ishikari nabe was originally a simple fisherman's stew cooked on the beach using salmon caught in the mouth of the Ishikari river. In the past, salmon were extremely abundant and ran up the ishikari river. The salmon fishery declined drastically for some time but it is making a big come-back because of the continuos release of the hatchlings over many years and improved river management.

There are many variations of this dish but, the original form is very simple; put whatever ingredients are available (you must have salmon, though) in a pot. The broth is ususally seasoned with kelp broth and miso. The secret of making a good Ishikari nabe is to put the miso seasoning in after the vegetables are cooked. The other secret is not to cook the salmon too long.

The above picture of Ishikai-nabe is in a small one person pot (8 inch wide), which my wife and I shared. This time I used, daikon (2 inch long, peeled cut thinly in half moon shape), carrot (one medium, cut thicker than daikon in half moon shape), potato (one medium, cut into half inch thick half moon shape) and cabbage (3 leaves, hard veins removed and roughly chopped). In addition, I used fresh shiitake mushrooms (2), shirataki (1/3, parboiled) and scallion (3, cut in a slant) and salmon fillet (whatever amount you like). I thought of adding tofu but the pot was full and I decided not to use tofu this time. You could add other vegetables, sea food, fish cakes etc if you like. 

I started by soaking kelp (4-5 inch long) in about 3 cups of water for 30 minutes or longer or until it gets hydrated and soft. I put the pot on a medium flame and when the water started to boil turned down the heat and took out the kelp. I put the vegetables which takes a long time to cook in the pot first (cabbage, potato, daikon and carrot) and cooked them for 20-30 minutes on a low flame.

Preparation of the salmon: I had one medium size fillet of salmon (1 lb). After washing and removing any scales and bones if present, I removed the thin fatty belly part or "harashu" ハラス for another dish. I cut the remaining fillet into one inch wide strips and then cut the strips in half to make good sized rectangles. In order to reduce the strong or gamey taste of the salmon, I parboiled it in boiling water with a small amount of sake for just 10-20 seconds. Then I washed the pieces in cold running water and set aside.

Seasoning mixture: I disolved miso (3 tbs) in sake (1 cup) and mirin (3 tbs) in a measuring cup and set aside. You could adjust the sweetness by increasing or decreasing the amount of mirin.

When the vegetables were done, I added shirataki and shiitake. After few minutes of cooking (with lid on), I added the seasoning mixture above. After coming back to a simmer, I added the salmon and scallion and cooked it until salmon was just done (3-4 minutes). Some people add butter or milk at the end but I did not.

We enjoyed this with sprinkles of 7 flavored Japanese red pepper flakes and warmed sake. We have not had warmed sake for ages but I just wanted to try it again. I thought Gekkeikan "Black and Gold" (US brewed) is perfect for drinking warm since it is very gentle sake. It took some effort to find the "ochoushi" お銚子 flask for waming the sake. My wife finally found one (Hagi ware 萩焼) in the back of the cupboard. I gently warmed the flask in a hot water to 118 F (I measured the temperature using a digital instant meat thermometer). Guinomi ぐいのみ is made by an American artist Peggy Loudon, which my wife acquired at one of the Smithonian craft shows held at the building museum in Washington, DC. The warm sake was perfect with this nabe on this cold night--especially since we were anticipating a big snow storm which luckily just missed the Washington area by a hair. We probably will go back to drinking cold sake...warm sake is good on certain occasions but in general we prefer cold sake.

P.S.  This recipe was featured in "The Jerusalem post" by Johanna Bailey.

Blanched Mizuna 水菜のおひたし

Mizuna 水菜 is a Japanese green, sometimes called Japanese mustard green, which is often used in a Japanese hot pot dish or “Nabe” 鍋. It has a very subtle piquant flavor. The other day, we were in the near-by Japanese grocery store and, somehow, I thought, I picked up a package of edible chrysanthemum or shungiku 春菊 but when I opened it several days later, I discovered it was Mizuna. My wife, who likes edible chrysanthemum, was disappointed. Since I was not planning on making a nabe dish, I made this simple but a classic “ohitashi” dish.



“Ohitashi” means “soaked”. Originally, vegetables (mostly leafy greens) were boiled and then “soaked” in a broth or dashi 出汁. The excess liquid was then squeezed out and it was seasoned with soy sauce. More commonly, however, the soaking step was omitted and the boiled leafy vegetable with soy sauce on top is called “Ohitashi”.


Mizuna: One package of mizuna was composed of about 6 individual plants measuring about 12 inches long. As with any leafy vegetable, it looked like a lot but after cooking the volume decreased quite a bit. I washed the stalks and lined them up so that all the leafy parts were on one side and the root ends on the other. I cut off the root end and cut the remainins stalks in half so that one bunch was mostly leafy and the other was mostly stalks.
I first cooked the stalks in salted boiling watr for 30-40 seconds and then added and cooked the leafy part for another 30 seconds. I drained the cooked greens in the colander. Spread the cooked mizuna flat and cooled it down by fanning. You could shock it in ice cold water but this is easier and the mizuna will not get too watery.


Dressing: Instead of “broth” which may have been used in the original form of “ohitashi”, I made mustard/soy sauce mixture or “karashi shouuyu” 芥子醤油. I put about 1/2 tsp of Japanese hot mustard (from a tube), sugar (1/4 tsp) and soy sauce (2 tsp) in a Japanese mortar or “suribachi” すり鉢 and mixed all together using a pestle or “surikogi”  すりこ木.

I squeezed out any excess moisture from the cooked mizuna and then cut into pieces about 2 inch long. I dressed with the above karashi shouuyu. I placed it in a small dish as seen above. I garnished with dried bonito flakes “Katsuobushi” 鰹節 (pre-shaven and came in a small plastic pouch). Just before eating, you may want to moisten the bonito flakes with a bit of additional soy sauce (which we did).
This is more for the texture than the taste of the green itself but, nevertheless, very refreshing small dish which can go well with your Japanese style dinner/breakfast or drinking snack. “Ohitashi” can be made any vegetables but the most common is using spinach. When using spinach, especially the Japanese variety, you should soak the spinach in cold water after boiling to remove oxalic acid.

“Fearsome” sanuki-udon noodle 恐るべきさぬきうどん

Some people are truly dedicated to noodles (soba, udon and ramen). "Sanuki 讃岐" is an area in kagawa prefecture 香川県 on shikoku island 四国.  It is famous for its udon noodle which is called "Sanuki Udon 讃岐うどん".  There are many udon restaurants in this region of Sanuki and touring around these places appears to be popular among the dedicated. We like udon (but we are far from being udon connoisseurs) and often substitute it in western dishes for spaghetti.  We usually buy dried udon noodles (many of them are labeled "sanuki" udon). One day, when I was looking at dried udon noodles at the Japanese grocery store, I saw a package of semi dry udon noodle called "Fearsome" sanumi udon 恐るべきさぬきうどん. I was a bit curious as to what this was all about and got a package.　

I made this warm udon in broth or Kakeudon かけうどん  with a slice of barbecued pork, abura-age deep fried tofu and shimeji mushroom.



I also served my simmered "Kabocha" pumpkin.



The picture below shows a package of  "Fearsome" sanuki udon 恐るべきさぬきうどん.

The noodles are semi-dried and much longer (folded in half) and slightly thicker than the usual dried varieties. It takes a bit longer to cook as well. I cooked it as per the package instructions, washed it in cold running water and placed it in a broth on simmer. The noodle has a bit more bite or firmness in the center than regular noodles. It is good but we are not sure if it is worthwhile to specifically buy this kind.

I used the noodles another time to make "Nabeyaki" udon 鍋焼きうどん. Since I had mochi 餅 left over from New Year, I also added mochi in a fried tofu pouch as well as simmered vegetables (daikon 大根, carrott, kon-nyaku コンニャク、all pre-cooked in a seasoned broth). I also added an egg and scallions.



Just before serving, I removed the tooth pick and cut the mochi in the pouch.



In this dish, I cooked the noodles with the other precooked items and the egg for 5 minutes. The noodles stayed rather firm in the center. These semi-dried udon noodles are good but since we are not dedicated connoisseurs of udon, the differences between this and the usual kind is not great enough to seek out this particular kind.

Digression alert: I later learned that "Osorubeki sanuki udon" 恐るべきさぬきうどん is the name of a column that appeared in a local magazine in Kagawa. The entire series of columns were published as multiple books by Kazutoshi Tao (田尾和俊). These book are a detailed guide of large and small udon noodle places in Kagawa which was said to have popularized udon tourism and restaurant tours. This particular noodle producer must be one of these udon places and must have somehow gotten the right to use this name.

New Induction Cooker Compatible Do-nabe IH 対応、銀宝花三島万古焼土鍋

Japanese “Nabe” 鍋 hot pot is a dish that is cooked at the table while you eat.  Classically, a portable butane-canister gas cooker is used with a “Do-nabe”  土鍋 earthen-ware pot. We used to have a butane table top cooker for nabe and sukiyaki すき焼き but because of safety concerns, which mainly stemmed from the age of our canisters and cooker, we looked for an alternative which turned out to be a table-top induction cooker (or the Japanese term is “IH”, short  for induction heater). For this to work, you have to use IH compatible pots and pans. Traditional Japanese nabe earthen-ware pots are certainly not IH compatible. We eventually found an IH compatible nabe from Kinto which worked great. Only complaint (which may not be important to many) is that while the pot worked well it is a very modern-appearing ceramic and does not have the traditional look of nabe. (I missed the homey nostalgic feel of a nabe which just the sight of the traditional design pot can evoke for me.)

Recently, I found an IH compatible nabe which is made of traditional “Banko-ware” 万古焼 pot called “Gipo Hanamishima Banko-yaki pot” 銀宝花三島万古焼土鍋 in an on-line store called “Japanese taste”. This is where we got dried persimmon or “hoshigaki” 干し柿. The “Japanese taste” ships items directly from Japan but it comes relatively quickly*. In any case, we got this “IH compatible do-nabe” pot last year but did not have a chance to use it until now. In the picture below, the left is “Kakomi” IH donabe from Kinto and the right is new Ginpo IH compatible donabe.

*We later learned that this pot is available at Amazon USA.

To make a donabe IH compatible, a magnetic metal disk needs to be present between the induction cooker surface and donabe.  Both these induction compatible donabes took a bit of a different approach.

Kinto donabe has a metal disk embedded into the bottom of pot as seen below. It can be used on gas, induction, and or halogen (electric heating element) cook tops. But not in a microwave oven.

Gipo comes with a stainless steel perforated disk which snaps into the inside bottom of the pot (apparently Ginpo has a patent). There are metal hooks and the inside bottom of the pot is formed to accept and secure this disk. It can be removed for cleaning and using the pot in a microwave. We initially tried it on our old induction cooktop (at least 18 years old which works with our cast iron sukiyaki pot and  Kinto donabe). The Gipo donabe, however, did not work with the old induction cooker. The cooker issued an error message which essentially read “NO-CAN-DO”. I read the instructions that came with the Gipo donabe and found out that it may not be compatible with older IH cookers. Great. Which meant we would be getting a new table top induction cooker to complete the set. It was not too expensive.

The new one is much better; the surface is completely covered with glass and easy to clean and the controls are more advanced. The new cooker worked with the Ginpo donabe. Actually, it boiled the liquid inside much quicker. I assume that because the metal disk is in contact with the liquid.

We enjoyed our nabe dish.  The main protein was cod and oyster. The cod was great. The oysters, however, were a different story. Digression alert: We are having a difficult time getting good oysters, especially Pacific oysters. For this dish we got small (eastern) frozen oyster but they tasted terrible. Luckily they did not ruin the flavor of the rest of the nabe. We ended up throwing out the remainder of the oysters in the package.

The other items in the nabe included nappa cabbage, tofu, diakon, mushrooms (enoki, oyster, shiitake and shimeji). I also added “fu” 麩 gluten cake. I made a broth with dried kelp and a dashi pack and, and for a change, seasoned the simmering liquid with miso (miso, mirin and sake).

Somehow, this new do-nabe is esthetically more pleasing (at least for me) and works great. Since this is a genuine earthen ware pot, you should not keep the contents in the pot over night.

Simmered "tarako" cod roe 鱈子の煮付け

This is another tarako dish which is a perfect Izakaya style drinking snack and goes perfectly with sake. I made this dish since I thawed a set of tarako roe (called "hitohara" 一腹 or "one belly" which consists of two roe sacs connected at one point). I made tarako omelet with one sac and the other sat in the fridge for two more days and needed to be quickly prepared.

Seasoning liquid: This is a rather easy dish, especially in my case, since I had leftover broth from making "Negi-ma nabe"  ねぎま鍋 the other day. I just strained the broth and adjusted the seasoning by adding sake, mirin and soy sauce. If you are making the both from scratch; dashi broth (200ml), mirin (2-3 tbs), sake (2tbs) and soy sauce (2-3 tbs) will do it. Some like it sweet and add sugar but I do not. I also add julienne of ginger root (3 thin slivers cut into fine julienne).

Tarako: Some recipes call for "raw" or unpreserved tarako. The only raw roe available around here is shad roe, which may also be used in this dish but I have not tried. So I used the usual salted tarako. It is interesting that the saltiness of the tarako reduces to the saltiness of the simmering liquid when it is cooked. So I do think either raw or salted tarako will work in this dish. I first cut one side of the membrane along the long axis and then cut it in 1 inch segments. I like this way rather than keeping a roe sac intact while cooking and then slicing it when serving. The way I prepared it made the tarako "blossom" when cooked like you see here in the picture, since the sac membrane will contract and invert the roe. This, to me, is more presentable and gives a better texture.

When the seasoning liquid came to a simmer, I added the tarako and simmered it gently for 15 minutes and let it cool to room temperature in the simmering liquid (Picture below).

You could serve this cold, at room temperature or reheated. I served this with blanched broccolini* (which looks somewhat like Japanese mustard green or "nanohana" 菜の花 but does not taste like it) dressed with karashi-zyouyu 芥子醤油 (Japanese hot mustard, sugar, and soy sauce). For good measure, I added fresh fine julienne of ginger or hari-shouga 針ショウガ as garnish. This dish has a nice chewy and interesting texture which is quite different from uncooked tarako and rather bright ginger flavor.  A really nice dish.

*This was developed by a Japanese seed company but is much more popular in the U.S than in Japan for some reason. If you are interested, here is a story about broccolini (in Japanese).

Sukiyaki すき焼き

When I think of Sukiyaki, it conjures up two unrelated memories in my mind. One is a Japanese popular song called "Ue-o muite arukou" "上を向いて歩こう"; translated into English, as "Let me gaze up while I am walking (and holding back my tears)". This was sung by Kyu Sakamoto 坂本九, who was later killed in a tragic commercial airplane crash in 1985. This is a melancholic song without any reference to food but, for some reason, was named "sukiyaki" when it was introduced to the U.S. The lyrics of the song and this English title have absolutely no relation to each other whatsoever except that both were from Japan--it is the equivalent to introducing "Moon River" as "Beef Stew".) Despite this, it was reportedly #1 on the Billboard magazine hit chart in June 15 of 1963.

Sukiyaki also reminds me of the very first time my wife and I visited Kyoto together so many years ago. Although we had visited Japan frequently we usually headed straight to Hokkaido occasionally staying only a few days in Tokyo. So the Japan my wife knew consisted of only Tokyo, Sapporo and other parts of Hokkaido. For her, Kyoto was an eye-opening experience--until then she thought all of Japan was like Hokkaido and was surprised to see how different it was. 

On that trip, one evening, we stolled along a narrow and crooked alleyway in Pontocho 先斗町. Since I did not do good research ahead of time (this was a time way before internet Tabelog and food blogs), we did not have any idea which restaurant we should try. Then, I found what appeared to be an old Kyoto house with a small wooden sign saying "Sukiyaki". Although it looked more like a residence than a restaurant, I made an executive decision and we went in. As we said "hello" or "konbanwa" at the small and deserted  "genkan" 玄関 entrance, a kimono clad "nakai" san 仲居さん or waitress, came out from behind the sliding "shoji" screen and greeted us. After removing our shoes, we were ushered up into a large Japanese room (10 tatami-mat room or 十畳間) upstairs which was just for us. We did not see any other customers and the "nakai" san made conversations with my wife (through my translation) and I while preparing sukiyaki at the table. It was such a different and pleasant eating experience. The room was elegant in a slightly shabby chic. It was so quiet and peaceful after the bustle on the streets below. I do not remember exactly but it was not outrageously expensive. (In later years, we visited Kyoto many more times. Every time we visit Pontocho, we see that the stores in the alleys have changed and new (chain?) restaurants and girly bars have started replacing old traditional restaurants and drinking places. Although we tried, we were not able to find our "sukiyaki" restaurant again. That meal turned out to be one of those poignant but fleeting experiences--kinda like the song. 

(Image borrowed from http://shigeking.exblog.jp/10388168/). 

This dish, sukiyaki, was invented after the Meiji restoration (1868) when Japanese adapted to eating meat (beef) and also is one of the Japanese foods accepted and popularized in the U.S. long before sushi and sashimi became popular. Sukiyaki 鋤焼 (suki 鋤 means a type of Japanese spades and "yaki" 焼き means to grill or cook. But I am not sure that was how this dish was originally cooked.) has two distinct styles; Kansai 関西 (includes Kyoto) and Kanto 関東 (Tokyo) -styles. Mine must be a Hokkaido 北海道 style. Actually, when I was growing up, my mother used to make sukiyaki with thinly sliced pork rather than beef, which was (and maybe still is) common in Hokkaido.

We have not made sukiyaki for ages but I found thinly sliced sukiyaki beef (frozen), which was not as nicely marbled as Japanese beef, at a Japanese grocery store and decided to make sukiyaki. Sukiyaki is traditionally cooked at the table and "the man of the house" is supposedly in charge of cooking and seasoning sukiyaki even though he usually does not cook. A traditional sukiyaki pot or すき焼き鍋 is made of cast iron、round and shallow with folding handles like one you see here. 

Ingredients: Besides thinly sliced beef, the most common items include tofu (especially grilled tofu or 焼き豆腐), Konnyaku thread or shirataki (白滝) (boiled for few minutes in water and washed in cold running water to remove its distinctive (read:awful) smell, shiitake mushroom (I used shimeji here), onion (either regular, thinly sliced, or Japanese "negi" scallion cut in 1-2 inch long on a slant), some type of greens such as spinach (I used a mixture of spinach and arugula here, which were very briefly blanched). My wife likes the more traditional edible chrysanthemum or shungiku (春菊)*. As seen on the left in the image below, I arranged the ingredients on a large plate before starting.

(*We love shungiku for its distinctive taste and even tried to grow it without much success. You could occasionally get it fresh at the Japanese grocery store but the availability is sporadic at best.)

Seasonings: You should have your seasonings handy while cooking sukiyaki; soy sauce, sugar, and sake. I do not use a premixed seasoning liquid or warishita 割り下. Just add these seasonings as you add more ingredients; sprinkle sugar, splash soy sauce and then sake. Since this is done by the man of the house, he does not measure anything (right, image above).

Cooking:  We did not cook the sukiyaki at the table this time. I placed a sukiyaki pot on the stove on medium low heat. I first melted a bit of butter (or you could use a chunk of beef fat) and spread the beef over the butter. The proper and traditional way of serving sukiyaki, is to season the meat after it has browned with sake, sugar and soy sauce. Then all the diners taste a small portion of this first cooked meat, since this is the only time browned meat was available to taste. (The rest of the beef added later is just cooked in the seasoning liquid). I do not see much advantage in this custom and I cooked everything together as you see on the right in the picture above. The vegetable and tofu exude water but if the liquid is not enough or the seasoning is too strong you could add more sake or dashi. I put on the lid and cooked it for 5 minutes or until the onion was done.

Serving: The classic way is to serve a raw beaten egg in the bowl as a dipping sauce (shown in the second picture above.) (of course, I used pasteurized shell eggs for this). The egg will cool the suskiyaki and make it taste better for sure. We just had this as a drinking snack rather than a meal with cold sake. This is such a classic dish and even the inferior quality of the beef did not detract.