This was my first time using my new donabe!!! I was so excited and decided to try a recipe from my Japanese Hot Pot book by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat. If you're interested in making yummy hot pots for the cold winter months, or for any other time, I strongly urge you to check it out! You can purchase it for a very reasonable price on Amazon-
Here!
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| I love this book! xD |
The recipe that I referenced was the Chicken and Milk Hot Pot also know as 飛鳥鍋 (asuka nabe) and it turned out quite good! Here is what I used:
4 Cups Soy Milk
1 Package of Firm Tofu (Cut into cubes)
3 Chicken Breasts (Trimmed of fat and cut into small pieces)
1 Package of Shirataki Noodles
1/4 Small Head of Napa Cabbage (Cut into pieces)*
1/2 Pound of Spinach
1 Leek (Cut diagonally into small pieces)
2 Green Onions (Chopped diagonally)
About 7 Ounces of Mushrooms, I used Oyster Mushrooms and a few rehydrated Shiitake Mushrooms
2 Carrots (Chopped)
Mitsuba (Japanese Parsley)
2 Cups of Dashi Stock
2 Tsp. Salt
2 Tsp. Sake
Shiro Miso
First, I poured the dashi stock into the pot and carefully added the cabbage, shirataki noodles, and tofu into it. Then I added the sake and let it come to a boil over high heat.
Next, uncover the pot and add in the milk, salt, mushrooms*, and chicken and decrease the heat to medium and simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes or until the carrots are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Also, make sure to keep checking the pot as the milk may overflow a bit and spill everywhere!
Then, add the green onion and leek and simmer for about 3 more minutes.
Now, add the spinach, cover, and simmer for another minute or until it cooks through completely.
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I then carefully lifted the pot and set it on the kitchen table. Next, you need to add in the miso and you can do it one of two ways: You can put the miso in a small mesh strainer and set it into the post and stir the miso until it dissolves into the soup completely
or you could place the miso in a bowl and ladle in some of the hot soup and stir it until it becomes smooth and then add that to your pot. I chose the first way! :)
You can bring the dinner bowls to the table and use the cooking chopsticks to pick out whatever you like out of the pot and use ladle to add in the soup. It's so much fun to enjoy a nice hot pot on a cold blistery night with friends and family! ^-^
Another thing that I wanted to mention was garnishing. Personally, I like to add a little bit of shichimi (Japanese seven-flavored chili pepper) to my soups, especially ones that contain miso! You could also garnish with grated ginger!
*Cabbage-There is a certain method that they use in Japan for cutting napa cabbage that helps it to absorb more of the flavor of the soup or you could just chop it into bite-sized pieces...it's really up to you! "To slice Japanese style: Trim off the bottom of a head of napa cabbage, separate the leaves, and rinse well to remove any dirt, especially at the stems. Pat them dry. Place a cabbage leaf flat on a cutting board. Starting from the white stem end, cut the leaf on a sharp diagonal into 2-inch-wide pieces. (Cutting on an angle exposes more surface area for the leaf to absorb broth). Cut the green part of the leaf further, in half or thirds, to make bite-size pieces. Repeat with the remaining leaves."-Japanese Hot Pots
*If you decide to use enoki mushrooms in this recipe, you should add them after you simmer the pot for the 10-15 minutes because they are more sensitive and they might lose their flavor.
Well, that's it! My first actual food/recipe post! Please let me know of any errors that I might have made or if anything is unclear! I am still very new at this blog thing! xD
Thank you so much and see you next time!
~Miranda <3
