Nabemono


Nabemono, or simply nabe, is a variety of Japanese hot pot dishes, also known as one-pot dishes and "things in a pot".

Description

Nabemono are stews and soups containing many types of ingredients that are served while still boiling. Nabe is thus typically enjoyed on cold days or in the winter. In modern Japan, nabemono are kept hot at the dining table by portable stoves. The dish is frequently cooked at the table, and the diners can pick the cooked ingredients they want from the pot. It is either eaten with the broth or with a dip. Further ingredients can also be successively added to the pot.
There are two types of nabemono in Japan: lightly flavored stock types such as yudōfu and mizutaki, eaten with a dipping sauce to enjoy the taste of the ingredients themselves; and strongly flavored stock, typically with miso, soy sauce, dashi, and/or sweet soy types such as yosenabe, oden, and sukiyaki, eaten without further flavoring.
The pots are traditionally made of clay or thick cast iron. Clay pots can keep warm for a while after being taken off the fire, while cast iron pots evenly distribute heat and are preferable for sukiyaki. Pots are usually placed in the center of dining tables and are shared by multiple people. This is considered the most sociable way to eat with friends and family.

Varieties

  • Chankonabe : was originally served only to sumo wrestlers. Chankonabe is served with more ingredients than other nabemono, as it was developed to help sumo wrestlers gain weight. Many recipes exist but usually contain meatballs, chicken, vegetables such as napa cabbage and udon.
  • Motsunabe : made with beef or pork offal, originally a local cuisine of Fukuoka but popularised nationwide in the 1990s because of its taste and reasonable price. The ingredients of motsunabe vary from restaurant to restaurant, but it is typical to boil fresh cow offal with cabbage and garlic chives. After the offal and vegetables are eaten, the rest of soup is used to cook champon noodles. The soup bases are mainly soy sauce or miso.
  • Oden: several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. Karashi is often used as a condiment.
  • Shabu-shabu: thinly sliced meat and vegetables that are boiled in a pot at the dining table and eaten with a dipping sauce.
  • Sukiyaki: thinly sliced beef, tofu, vegetables and starch noodles stewed in sweetened shouyu and eaten with a raw egg dip.
  • Yosenabe: Yose means "putting together", implying that all things are cooked together in a pot. Yosenabe is typically based on a broth made with miso or soy sauce flavourings.
  • Yudofu: tofu simmered in a kombu stock and served with ponzu and various condiments.

    Regional variations

There are many regional nabemono in Japan, which contain regional specialty foods such as salmon in Hokkaido and oyster in Hiroshima. Examples include:
Nabemono are usually eaten with a sauce sometimes called tare, literally "dipping". Several kinds of sauce can be used with additional spices, called yakumi. Typical yakumi include grated garlic, butter, red pepper, a mixture of red pepper and other spices, roasted sesame, or momiji oroshi.
  • Ponzu: The common ponzu is made of soy sauce and juice pressed from a bitter orange, sweet sake, and kombu stock.
  • Gomadare : Sesame sauce is usually made from ground sesame, soy sauce, kelp stock, sake and sugar.
  • Beaten raw egg: Most commonly used as the sauce for sukiyaki.