Hearty, soothing, and deeply comforting, this simple hot pot is made with just dashi and shirodashi for the broth. I make it often throughout the cold months (and sometimes even in warmer weather). The meatballs are juicy, and the ginger and sansho bring gentle layers of flavor. Be sure to save some broth for the shime (finishing course) — ramen noodles make a perfect ending.
Nothing is more appetizing than the steaming hot shumai dumplings. With the donabe steamer, Mushi Nabe, you can quickly steam them and serve right out of it at a table. Feel free to change the ratio of pork and shrimp. I slice the shrimp coarsely so the finished texture is really fantastic. It’s a very irresistible dish so I can easily eat more than 10 pieces in one meal! The dipping sauce is simple combo of soy sauce and rice vinegar, plus a dab of karashi (Japanese hot mustard) adds a great kick.
This tasty dish is a simple steamed tofu, topped with ginger-flavor ground pork. It’s easy to prepare and brings such comfort to my heart and stomach always. I like to finish with the rich sesame sauce. This sauce is also quite versatile and I like to pour over steamed vegetables, seafood, chicken, dim sum, etc. You can substitute the pork with ground chicken if you like.
Tan Tan Nabe, or Chinese-inspired miso-sesame broth with ground meat donabe hot pot is one of the most popular dishes from my DONABE Cookbook. Here is another variation of Tan Tan Nabe and it’s Soymilk Tan Tan Nabe. The soymilk adds the extra richness to the flavor of this dish, while the dish is quite healthy. The broth is so flavorful and soothing with a spicy kick. Also, it’s so easy to make. So, I love making this dish so much.
This is a Japanese version of popular Chinese dish (mapo tofu), which is a spicy stew of tofu and ground pork. My Mabo Tofu is seasoned with miso, and it gives nice rich flavor to the dish. For the spicy heat and extra umami, tobanjan (Chinese chili bean paste) is usually an essential ingredient for this dish. But, I often substitute it with Kanzuri, and it works great, too! You can make this dish with any classic-style donabe, or Mushi Nabe without the steam grate. I used my Bistro Mushi Nabe in the photos in this recipe.
Cold ramen noodles with simmering hot and spicy broth with toppings create a wonderful dish to enjoy in the summer or all year round. The dipping broth is especially rich as it’s seasoned with hatcho miso (very dark miso made of 100% soybeans) with tamari soy sauce. But, if you don’t have either, you can simply substitute with quality red miso and dark soy sauce respectively and it would still be very tasty. You can also serve the broth cold, and it will be so refreshing and perfect to enjoy on a hot day.
I’ve been making this dish for years and I receive requests to make it over and over from my family and friends. There are a few “secret” ingredients to make this dish taste so delicious although it’s a simple recipe. They are ketchup, Japanese black vinegar, and Japanese fish sauce. This curry is perfect with donabe Turmeric Rice and eggs (they are both cooked in Kamado-san at the same time), or plain rice.
Simple pork shumai dumplings are so easy to make and taste so good that I always have hard time stop eating. The meat becomes so juicy, and with the dipping sauce (combination of soy sauce and rice vinegar) and a little dab of karashi (Japanese mustard), the flavors explode in the mouth. You can make the filling a few hours in advance, and just wrap in wonton skins right before steaming, so the wontons won’t get too wet and sticky. Very thin wontons skins are my choice and they are normally available at Japanese markets. Karashi is very hot, so if you are not familiar with it, try a tiny amount first to see how much you can handle.
