Five Japanese hot pot dishes to try at home

Five Japanese hot pot dishes to try at home 

Nabemono is a Japanese hot pot dish usually served on a dinner table in a donabe (clay pot). The word nabemono combines two Japanese words: nabe (cooking pot) and mono (thing). Indeed, a nabemono can contain almost anything.

Nabemono is a winter comfort food in Japan. It is usually made by simmering vegetables, meat, and seafood in dashi broth until they are perfectly cooked. Hot pot dishes are nourishing and fun to eat, and this feature introduces some of the most famous Japanese hot pot dishes that you can try at home!

Index: Five Japanese hot pot dishes to try at home

• 1.Chanko Nabe
• 2.Soy milk nabe
• 3.Motsunabe
• 4.Mizutaki
• 5.Kimchi Nabe

1. Chanko Nabe

Chanko Nabe is a hot pot dish traditionally eaten by sumo wrestlers only, particularly to help them gain weight. However, due to its popularity, many Japanese eat Chanko Nabe nowadays. The hot pot dish includes protein—and vitamin-rich ingredients such as chicken, meatballs, mushrooms, carrots, and spring onions.

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2. Soy milk nabe

Soy milk nabe, also known as Tonyu Nabe (豆乳鍋), is a creamy hot pot dish that uses soy milk as one of its main ingredients. It tastes savoury with a slightly sweet flavour. The soy milk is mixed with dashi broth and stuffed with vegetables like cabbage and green vegetables and proteins like chicken or thinly sliced pork. You can enjoy soy milk nabe with ponzu dipping sauce.

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3. Motsunabe

Motsu is the Japanese for offal or internal organs of cows and pigs, and Motsunabe refers to a hot pot dish that uses offal as one of its main ingredients. According to an anthology of Japanese poems compiled in the 7th century, offal has been eaten since ancient times in Japan.

Although some people may think offal difficult or unappetizing to eat, motsu is considered one of the most popular foods in Japan since it’s tasty, reasonably priced, and rich in collagen. Motsunabe is usually made of offal, vegetables, garlic, and thinly sliced chilli.

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4. Mizutaki

Mizu (水) means water and taki (炊き) means simmering in Japanese, and as the name suggests, Mizutaki is a hot pot dish where the ingredients, like chicken and vegetables, cooked in water or kombu (kelp) broth without any seasonings. Compared to other hot pot dishes, mizutaki is lower in calories and fat.

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5. Kimchi Nabe

If you love spicy food, you might want to try Kimchi nabe, which is a hot pot dish cooked with a spicy kimchi base, and filled with plenty of ingredients such as tofu, mushrooms, chicken or thinly sliced pork, Chinese cabbage, Asian chives, and kimchi.

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