Simple donabe steamed shrimp and rapini is almost a non-recipe dish and always delightful. I like to serve with my homemade Yuzu Ponzu (recipe in my DONABE Cookbook). If you opt for a ready-made ponzu, we have great ones in our pantry section, too. Sansho and sake enhances the flavor and sansho adds the nice subtle citrusy kick. The addition of katakuriko (potato starch), although it’s optional, seals the flavors and the helps the texture to be so plump.
Tag Archives: Sake
Chicken & Tofu Mille Feuille Nabe
Here is a new variation to my “mille feuille” nabe recipes and this is a total keeper. It’s napa cabbage with ground chicken and tofu filling and tastes so rich and soothing. I season the dish with a Vegetable Dashi bag by simply tearing the bag and sprinkle the contents over the dish before cooking. This vegetable dashi bag is so convenient and the result is simply fantastic. The dish is packed with umami and already so tasty on its own, but I like to drizzle a small amount of soy sauce or a dab of Yuzu-Kosho.
Shrimp Miso Udon
Ebi Miso Nikomi Udon
Perfect for a cold season, this is Shrimp and Udon, Simmered in Dark Miso Broth. There is something about the deep simmering sound and look of the donabe noodles in miso broth. I make this dish repeatedly in the cold season. It’s a brilliant single serving one pot donabe meal which has rich satisfying flavors and keeps my body warm so nicely. I like to coat the shrimp in katakuriko (potato starch – you can omit or substitute with corn starch), as it helps shrimp turn really nice plump texture and also lightly thickens the broth. Also, shrimp cooks fast and adds nice flavors to the broth, but you’re welcome to omit or replace with your choice of topping.
Halibut & Daikon Hot Pot
Mizore Nabe
Here’s my healthy seafood hot pot, Halibut Mizore Nabe – Halibut (or your choice of fish) is quickly simmered with vegetables and finished with a generous amount of grated daikon on top. With the addition of the glass noodles, this dish makes a very satisfying one pot donabe meal.
Eggplant & Shiitake Linguine
This donabe dish is something I can whip up with ingredients I can usually find in my kitchen on a regular night. Eggplant and shiitake mushrooms are simply cooked in a donabe and finished with canned cherry tomatoes (you can use regular canned tomato or tomato purée). It’s rich in umami as I use sake and shio-koji for seasoning for a little Japanese kick, but you can do without also. I love to use my Roast Donabe, which is dry-heating capable and also equipped with extra-thick body and sturdy flat lid. With these features, this donabe promotes extra pressure and steaming effect and the ingredients can cook faster and very effectively with minimum liquid. This is a hearty and delicious vegan dish if you go without cheese (or use vegan cheese). I love adding the Parmigiano Reggiano at the end!
Garlic Black Cod
Super simple and super good. I’ve been making this dish in different kinds of donabe and the dish is always a great success. It’s a sizzling dish of generous amount of garlic etc. and oyster sauce marinated black cod, finished in the oven. Minimum effort is required to execute the dish, so it’s a perfect dish to cook for your guests at a dinner party. And everybody loves it!
The tagine-style donabe , Fukkura-san, with its flat skillet bottom, cooks the ingredients most effectively. Or, you can also use other kinds of donabe (dry-heating capable is preferred), too. For a small serving, I also like to use my compact one-handle donabe , Izakaya Nabe. Happy Donabe Life!
Beef Rice
Niku Gohan
Juicy donabe Beef Rice for your stamina. I used a block of American Wagyu hanger steak and thinly sliced by hand. By marinating the beef for a short time with sake, soy sauce and black sugar, the meat comes out so tender like you braised it! I also used some smoked soy sauce to complement the bold flavor but you can use only regular soy sauce, too. Donabe makes this dish so complete in flavor and texture, and it was just so delicious that I ate almost half of the pot. Happy Donabe Life!
Salmon Stew in Sake Miso Tomato Sauce
This quick donabe dish is packed with umami. The combination of the miso, tomato paste and sake brings rich and aromatic flavors, and kanzuri adds the nice spicy nuance (you can make it without kanzuri if you want it to be more mild). This sauce is very versatile, so you can use it for other protein, etc. The thick-body and compact Roast Donabe is my choice of donabe for this dish (and see how the contents continue to simmer a while after it’s brought to a table) but classic-style donabe or any other donabe with enough capacity can work also.
Sea Bream Shabu Shabu
Tai Shabu
Spring really makes me want to eat Tai (sea bream) every day. I enjoy it in sashimi, carpaccio, sushi, etc. And, here’s another Tai dish I love, which is Tai Shabu. It’s basically a simple fish shabu shabu and always so good. If you can save enough broth, hope you enjoy the shime (finishing) noodle course, too.
Sea Bream Rice
Tai Meshi
One of my favorite dishes to eat during the spring is Tai Meshi (Sea Bream Rice), made in a donabe. I cook the rice with a whole Tai (sea bream), so it’s not only very flavorful but the dish is perfect for festivity. I usually cook this dish with my double-lid donabe rice cooker, Kamdo-san, but since the fish I got this time was much bigger than my 3 rice-cup size Kamado-san, I decided to make it in my large-size donabe (I used my donabe steamer, Mushi Nabe, without the steam grate). By bending its tail, I could barely fit it in my donabe! To garnish, kinome (sansho leaves) are typically used in Japan. But since it’s hard to find kinome here in LA, I used dill and it paired with the rice beautifully.
Sesame and Saikyo Miso Hot Pot with Chicken Meatballs
Tsukune Goma Saikyo Nabe
This is an especially comforting donabe hot pot dish. Saikyo miso is a (naturally) sweet white miso, and the dashi based broth is flavored with sesame paste and Saikyo miso. Ginger-rich chicken tsukune (meatballs) are really fluffy and also adds depth to the broth. They are cooked along with different vegetables and just so satisfying. This is like a Japanese version of “chicken soup” to nourish your body and soul.
Mixed Mushroom and Hijiki Rice
Kinoko to Hijiki no Takikomi Gohan
This is one of my regular donabe rice dishes. Mixed mushrooms, hijiki, and edamame – I love the combination of these flavors when they are mixed with rice. I use kombu and shiitake mushroom dashi, so this is a vegan dish but feel free to use your choice of dashi, stock or even just water. The dish come out aromatic and so satisfying every time.
Baked Foil-Wrapped Seafood
Kaisen Hoiru-Yaki
Foil-baked seafood is such an easy-prepping and delicious dish. It also requires basically no cleaning of the cooking equipment. I always make it in my tagine-style donabe , Fukkura-san, as not only it distributes the heat perfectly without getting the bottom burned quickly but also it makes a very nice presentation at the table. The dish is flavored simply with sake, butter, and a drizzle of soy sauce and it’s so perfect! When the foil is gently cut open and the dish is revealed, it brings so much excitement, and also the aroma of butter-sake infused ingredients is so irresistible. Smoked soy sauce makes the dish so special but a regular soy sauce can work just fine, too.
Sake-Steamed Black Cod and Vegetables
Gindara to Yasai no Saka-Mushi
Here’s a simple steam-fry fish and vegetable dish made in Tagine-style Donabe, Fukkura-san. With only minimal seasoning, the dish always comes out so flavorful. Once the sake is infused with vegetables and has fish cooked in it, the flavors become quite complex. This dish is also an homage to Basque regions I visited this summer, so I seasoned the seafood with the herb salt mix I picked up from Ile de Re island in France, and served the dish with homemade creamy garlic sauce. This sauce is also inspired from the trip, and it’s quite addictive. You can use just plain sea salt or your choice of spice/herb salt mix to achieve wonderful flavors, so you don’t need to worry about getting the most specific ingredients. Also instead of the garlic sauce, you can serve with aioli or even ponzu.
Shio-Kombu Pork & Napa Cabbage Mille Feuille
This is such a simple dish as all I need to do is to pile up napa cabbage and pork slices (this time, I used pork shoulder, but pork belly is also good), cut them and stuff in a donabe . The seasoning is basically just the Shio-Kombu, and it releases so much umami flavors to the dish! The donabe cooks the ingredients evenly in just 15 – 20 minutes over stovetop, and you don’t need to do anything to it, meanwhile. Both the napa cabbage and pork become so tender!
The dish is already so tasty on its own, but I like to drizzle a small amount of ponzu or a dab of yuzu-kosho.
Beef Bowl
Gyu-Don
Gyu-Don, or beef bowl, is one of the most popular rice bowl dishes in Japan. It’s basically soy-flavored and slightly sweet simmered thin beef slices over rice. Here in LA where I live now, unless I take a trip to a Japanese market, I can’t get very thinly sliced beef at a regular market like in Japan. So, I usually get a block of boneless beef short rib and hand-slice it very thinly myself. I actually find this hand-cut version better than the other. The meat is simmered with onion in donabe for about half an hour and the result is such tender and flavorful beef. Donabe can bring out all the umami flavors cooked in it and become quite magical.
Miso Butter Hot Pot with Salmon and Pork
Ishikari Nabe
I’ve made this hot pot many times this season, both for myself and many other people. And, many of them asked me to share the recipe so they can make it home. The miso broth has two kinds of miso for complexity. The addition of butter at the end gives the beautiful depth in flavor.
Ishikari Nabe is originally a regional dish from Hokkaido (the northern island of Japan), and to me, the must “rule” to be called Ishikari Nabe is that the dish has to have salmon and potato in the miso broth. They taste so good together (especially with the butter added at the end)! That being said, the broth can go well with just about anything, so you can change around the ingredients to cook in it. When I cook for my vegan friends, I use kombu and shiitake dashi, and make it with tofu and different kinds of mushrooms (and no butter).
You can make the miso base (mixture of the miso, sake, mirin and soy sauce) in advance, and when it’s ready to serve, you can simply combine the miso base with dashi, and start cooking the ingredients in it at the table (or at in the kitchen stove and serve at the table).
For “shime” (finishing course), I love making ojiya (soupy porridge) in the remaining broth. Ramen is also great, too.
Thai-Style Basil Chiken Over Rice
Gapao Gohan
This dish is my homage to a popular Thai dish, pad gaprao (“holy basil chicken rice”; this dish is also popular in Japan, and we call it gapao gohan), and every component (chicken, rice, and egg) is made in a different style of donabe. This simple dish is so easy to make and really satisfying, so I make it quite often.
For the basil chicken, you can make it with any classic-style donabe, but I especially recommend Bistro Donabe. It’s because this donabe can be heated when it’s empty, so you can sauté the chicken more effectively with the intense heat. The sturdy flat lid of Bistro Donabe can also give a nice pressure during simmering. The main seasonings are oyster sauce and Ayu Fish Sauce, they bring really nice layers of umami flavors. While most Asian fish sauce (such as nan pla) has distinctive salty flavor, Ayu fish sauce is much more round and richer in umami. You can still use regular Asian fish sauce, but in that case, I suggest you use less amount of it.
For the fried egg, you can use a regular pan, but my choice of equipment is always Donabe Egg Baker. It’s so handy and you can make an individual serving (up to two eggs) fried eggs in a short time.
Cold Udon with Sesame Soymilk Sauce
Hiyashi Udon no Goma Tonyu Tsuyu Kake
This cold udon dish has a very tasty and refreshing broth made of soymilk and golden sesame paste. It’s poured over the udon and really makes the dish so special. For this broth, I use my Dashi Shoyu (rich dashi-flavored soy sauce) as a base seasoning. This Dashi Shoyu is extremely versatile and can be used it on its own as a seasoning for sautéed dish or can be mixed other liquid (can be just water) to make a broth or a sauce. So, I keep my Dashi Shoyu in my fridge always. Once you make a batch of it, you can keep it for up to a month or even longer.
The toppings can be basically anything you like, so you can be creative.
Oyster Sauce Flavored Steam-Fry Pork Yakisoba Noodle
Oyster Sauce Buta Yakisoba
Yakisoba (stir-fry noodles) is such a casual tasty dish which almost everybody in Japan loves. While there are so many variations of yakisoba, my all time favorite is the simple oyster sauce flavor with pork and cabbage. This yakisoba makes me feel nostalgic, as it’s similar to what my mom used to make for a quick lunch when I was a child. With the tagine-style donabe, Fukkura-san, the ingredients are steam-fried and the noodles have such a nice bouncy texture, while the meat and cabbage get lightly caramelized. Instead of typical karashi (Japanese hot mustard), I like serving this dish with Kanzuri.
As a variation, you can substitute soy sauce with Smoked Soy Sauce for a nice smokey and robust nuance.
Japanese Sweet Potato Rice
Satsuma-Imo Gohan
This is one of my favorite fall-to-winter rice dishes since I was a child. This is such a simple dish, as the main ingredients are just the rice and satsuma-imo (Japanese sweet potato), and they are seasoned very lightly only with salt. The natural sweetness of the satsuma-imo is fully brought out after cooked with the rice, and the texture is nicely soft to work great with the shiny chewy rice. I also love making onigiri (rice balls) with this dish. They taste great hot or room temperature. If you want to add more flavor, you can cook the rice with dashi or even consommé works nicely, too.
Pork and Napa Cabbage Mille Feuille
Buta to Hakusai no Mille Feuille Nabe
This dish is all about pork and napa cabbage, cooked in a minimum way. They are simply layered to pack in a donabe, with a small amount of water and sake. There is not even dashi or salt. You can top them with some sliced ginger and mushrooms, and gently simmer for 25 – 30 minutes. The result is a tasty treat rich in umami, and it looks beautiful, too. The soup is also packed with all the natural flavors from the ingredients, so make sure to enjoy it with the dish, too.
I like to serve it with Sansho Ponzu Sauce and Hatcho Miso & Black Sesame Sauce (recipe below) for flavor variations. Or, you can simply serve it with yuzu-kosho or Kanzuri, too.
Tamari-Flavored Beef and Tofu Stew
Tamari Niku-Dofu
Simple, quick, and satisfying, beef and tofu stew is a popular home dish in Japan. With an addition of komatsuna (Japanese spinach – you can substitute with regular spinach or other leafy greens), it makes a nutritiously balanced one-pot dish. I love using Tamari Soy Sauce for seasoning, as it gives a nice deep flavor, but you can also make it with regular soy sauce and it will still taste great. If you have any leftovers, I highly suggest you reheat it in a donabe (or a small pot), drizzle some whisked egg over it, then once the egg is at your desired consistency, pour the whole thing over the rice to make a beef and tofu rice bowl. Just so that I will have enough leftover the next day, I tend to make extra amounts of this dish.
Shio-koji Salmon over Butter Sweet Potatoes
Shio-Koji Sake to Satsuma-Imo no Mushi-Yaki
This dish is something I like to whip up especially on a busy day. While marinating the salmon in shio-koji, I I can prepare all the other ingredients, then just pile them up and let the donabe do all the work. I love the slightly caramelized sweet potato in the bottom, while the salmon is perfectly cooked medium-rare (or you can cook it longer if you like the salmon to be well-done).
Smoky Shoyu-Flavored Corn & Bacon Rice
Here’s another version of my corn rice; this one has a big, bold flavor with the addition of rendered bacon, Smoked Soy Sauce, and butter. This is a great dish to serve at a summer party, too. When I made this dish at an outdoor BBQ dinner one day, everybody went crazy and it was gone so quickly! Corn is so sweet and savory at the same time, with its nice smokey and nutty flavor. Although this addition is highly recommended, if you would like to omit the 16 Multi Mixed Grains, you can reduce the amount of the dashi by a tablespoon or so.
Corn Rice
Tomorokoshi Gohan
Corn rice is one of my favorite summer dishes to make. It’s simple and full of summer flavors. I like to cook with my cold-infused Kombu and Shiitake Mushroom Dashi, so I just let the dashi infuse half-day to overnight in the fridge and it’s ready to use. This dish is completely vegan, but you can cook with your choice of other stock (kombu & bonito dashi, chicken stock, etc.), too. For this recipe, I also added a packet of 16 Multi Mixed Grains (it’s so good), but if you would like to make it without it, you can reduce the amount of the dashi by a tablespoon or so. To add some kick to the dish, I like adding the Kanzuri Yuzu Sauce to the dish. You can top the rice with a small amount of the sauce or mix it in to the rice to enjoy. It’s quite addictive.
Cold Ramen with Spicy Pork & Sesame Dipping Broth
Tan Tan Tsukemen
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.
Steam-Fry Carrot in Oyster Mayo Sauce
Ninjin no Oyster Mayo Kimpira
This simple dish brings the wonderful natural sweet flavor of the carrot with the umami nuance from the oyster sauce and mayo. I also love the hint of nutty sesame aroma coming from the Golden Sesame Oil. I can make this dish so easily and it always feels like a treat. This dish is great either hot, right when it’s cooked, or at a room temperature. So, you can bring it to a picnic, too.
Chicken, Kabocha & Mochi Mugi Stew in Shio-Koji Broth
This hearty stew is so nourishing and tasty. The only seasoning is basically Liquid Shio-Koji, and this magical seasoning makes the chicken extra tender. With the addition of kabocha and Mochi Mugi barley, this dish tastes so complete and makes an ideal one pot meal. My body always feels so great after eating a big bowl of this stew. For this dish, I like making dashi (soup stock) with kombu and dried shiitake by soaking them in water for a few hours (to over night) in advance. They not only make the soup taste wonderful but also they can be sliced and added to cook in the stew to enjoy. But, you can also make this dish with chicken stock or vegetable stock and it will be delicious, too.
English Peas and Hijiki Rice
Ao-Mame Hijiki Gohan
During the spring time when the English peas are in season, I make this dish often. The shelled fresh peas are added to the donabe after turning off the heat and cooked only with the carryover heat. When the dish is ready, the peas are nicely cooked through while they bring the beautiful fresh sweet aroma and retain the beautiful color and texture. This dish is also great for onigiri (rice balls) to take to picnic, as it tastes delicious at a room temperature, too.
Lemon Butter Yellowtail and Daikon
Lemon Butter Buri Daikon
This dish is my unique donabe version of popular Japanese dish, buri daikon (simmered yellowtail and daikon in soy based broth). Daikon is first sautéed in butter, then, once the yellowtail is added along with the lemon and mushrooms, they were steamed with sake and Ayu Fish Sauce. All made in one donabe, and this versatile Fukkura-san donabe effectively steam-fry the ingredients. The result is so aromatic, savory, and delicious. If yellowtail is not available, this dish can be made with other rich-flavor fish such as cod or sea bass. Ayu fish sauce gives the elegantly rich umami flavor, but it can be substituted with regular soy sauce, too.
Dashi-Rich Steam-Fry Hiramasa and Napa Cabbage
Simply assembled hiramasa (amberjack) with napa cabbage and shimeji mushrooms taste so pure and satisfying with the rich flavor of the dashi broth. The broth’s umami level is boosted with the addition of ayu fish sauce (I call this “magic essence”). Hiramasa can be substituted with yellowtail, sea bass, snapper, salmon, or any buttery fish filet. I like to serve this dish with plain donabe rice (white or brown).
Braised Chicken in Black Vinegar Sauce
Tori No Kurozu-ni
The main ingredients of this dish are just chicken and shiitake mushrooms, yet this dish can make such a hearty meal. The meat is so succulent and falls off the bone easily even with chopsticks. The special black vinegar from Kyoto gives the umami-packed layer of flavors to this easy one-pot dish.
Make Your Own Shoyu Ramen Hot Pot
Okonomi Shoyu Ramen Nabe
Making ramen is easy and fun, especially if you cook and serve as donabe hot pot right at the table. I like adding the chopped nira (garlic chives) to the ramen right before serving, but if you can’t find nira, you can substitute with thinly-sliced green onion and serve as a topping, instead. Enjoy with a couple of simple toppings or a make a platter of a wide selection of toppings to choose from for fun.
Soy-Flavored Simmered Ground Chicken
Tori Soboro
Very popular among Japanese people of all ages, this juicy simmered ground chicken is cooked in simple seasonings of soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, and is typically served over plain rice. When I was a teenager, this dish, tori soboro gohan, used to be one of my favorite items in the bento my mom made me to take to school for lunch. My version has the accent of a generous amount of shredded ginger to stimulate your appetite. I like to serve it with a very soft-boiled egg (with runny egg yolk) over freshly cooked donabe rice. You can also enjoy it as a topping for steamed kabocha, asparagus, or tofu.
Mushroom & Mizuna Hot Pot
Hari Hari Nabe
This simple vegan hot pot is so rich in flavor and satisfying. I like to slice the abura-age very thin, as these slices soak up the broth and taste like juicy noodles. If you don’t have access to abura-age, thinly-sliced tofu can work, too. The key for the rich broth flavor is to add the mushrooms before heating up the kombu-soaked water, so the mushrooms release all the umami flavors during the slow heating process. For the shime (finishing course), I like to add udon noodles to the remaining broth, but soba is also good, too.
Chicken Wings & Daikon Hot Pot
Teba Daikon Nabe
Chicken wings and daikon are a classic combination in Japanese cooking. By pan-frying these ingredients before adding to the broth, the flavor of this simple dish enhances dramatically. Because the chicken is already marinated in shio-koji, this dish doesn’t require much more seasoning. Feel free to use fingers to savor the wings, as it’s part of the fun of this dish!
Japanese Beef & Potato Stew
Nikujaga
This hearty beef and potato stew is such a popular Japanese home dish among people from little kids to elders. While there are countless variations, for my nikujaga, I like to caramelize the onion before adding other ingredients. The onion gives nice rich layer of umami flavor to the dish. Miso-shiru Nabe always makes the perfect caramelized onion without having to constantly sauté it. I also add a lot of thinly sliced gingers for the accent.
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