Category: Nabemono

Oyster Riverbank Stew with Miso
Oyster Riverbank Stew – otherwise known as Kaki no Dote Nabe – is one of my favorite nabemono dishes. This stew uses both red and white miso as a powerful, pungent, decadent and seductive flavoring agent. The name riverbank probably refers to the bank of miso on the inside of the pot. There is an alternative story, though, that when this Hiroshima specialty was introduced into Edo (Tokyo) in the Edo period (1603-1867), it was brought by boat and sold on the banks of the river.

There are a wealth of nabemono (one-pot or hot-pot stews) in Japan, as they are considered a winter comfort food. I love nabemonos; so versatile and fun to make at the table with friends and family. It is the main style of communal cooking I do in the colder months here in the Bay area. Generally quick to prep and the combination of flavors and regional tastes are delicious and endless!

Oyster Riverbank Stew with Miso

In 1877, an American zoologist by the name of Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925) conducted the first scientific excavation of shell mounds of the Jomon and Incipient Jomon periods (9000-300 B.C.) in Omori, Tokyo. These ancient garbage dumps, which have since been found throughout Japan, were filled with the remains of a surprising diversity of foods: shells, fish bones, bones of game animals, acorns, and even rice.

What makes a successful nabe dish?

All the cooking is done at the dining table, so your ingredients can be prepped in advance and presented attractively on large decorative plates before cooking. Place on the table when ready to cook. Have your stock ready, seasoned and hot. Have a portable heating source so that your nabe can be cooked at the dining table. Have a heat-resistant pot (such as ceramic, cast-iron, or earthenware) ready for cooking your nabe. All cooking utensils, condiments, side dishes and drinks should also be on the table within easy reach of all your guests. Make sure while you and your guests are cooking, not to overcook any of the ingredients!

What’s your favorite nabe dish?

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Oyster Riverbank Stew with Miso

Lucy Seligman

Serves 4-5

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 ¼ lb. medium sized fresh oysters, washed in salted water, rinsed well, and drained
1 block grilled tofu, drained and cut into large cubes
7-8 oz. daikon radish, peeled and cut into 2 inch squares
7-8 oz. shungiku, (chrysanthemum leaves) and/or mitsuba (trefoil), washed, trimmed, and cut into 2 – inch lengths
7 oz. Japanese leeks, longer and less coarse than regular leeks, washed, trimmed, and cut diagonally into 2-inch lengths
Optional vegetables: enokidake or shiitake mushrooms, Chinese cabbage
½ cup red miso such as hatcho miso
2 tablespoons sweet white miso
3 tablespoons sake
3 tablespoons mirin, sweet sake
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 cups or more dashi, fish stock (make homemade or combine 1 teaspoon instant dashi granules to every 3 cups hot water)
4-5 very fresh raw eggs, optional, one per person for dipping sauce

Instructions

Prepare the oysters and all the vegetables, and arrange attractively on a large serving plate.
In a small bowl, combine the two misos, sake, mirin, and sugar to make a thick, spreadable paste. Adjust to suit your taste (white miso is sweeter and red miso is saltier).
Line the whole heat-resistant pot (ceramic, cast-iron, or earthenware) with a layer of miso paste and then press the daikon squares into the miso, using a rubber spatula to coat the daikon with the rest of the paste to hold the squares in place. To increase the flavor, place the nabe over a high heat and slightly scorch the miso mixture for a moment, until its pungent aroma can be smelt.
Bring the nabe to the dining table, place over a portable gas or electric ring, and turn the heat on high. Add a selection of ingredients and half the dashi stock. Bring to the boil, then turn heat down to a simmer. Give each guest an egg to beat and use as a dipping sauce if desired.
As you eat, scoop the miso into the stock. The oysters are done when they begin to curl around the edges-don’t overcook. Add more oysters, vegetables, tofu and stock as needed. If using, dip cooked ingredients into a beaten raw egg as your dipping sauce.

Notes
Provide plenty of drinks and rice for your guests, as the miso may make you thirsty, especially if not using raw egg as your dipping sauce.

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Oden: Japanese Hodgepodge Stew

Chanko Nabe: A One-Pot Dish for a Pot Belly

Beef Sukiyaki Recipe
Oden: Japanese Hodgepodge Stew
When I was a college student in Tokyo, I would often pass mobile food stalls, called yatai, late on blustery winter nights and be completely overwhelmed by the powerful aroma of oden, or Japanese hodgepodge stew. Oden’s pungent smell and taste have made it a perennial favorite with drinkers, no matter the season. It is definitely a comfort food in Japan and can be enjoyed anytime by everyone.

The oden is derived from dengaku–grilled, skewered tofu topped with miso. The dish got its start in the late Edo era (1603-1867) when the people of old Edo (now Tokyo) began cooking many ingredients stuck on bamboo skewers in one pot. They used soy sauce as a base, which accounts for the murky darkness of the stock and the uniformly brownish color of the ingredients. Called Kanto-daki (Kanto-style oden), this dish was passed down to the Kansai area. There the people of Osaka changed the stock, taking out the soy sauce and substituting salt and kelp, or sometimes chicken stock or even white soy sauce, to create a clearer, more delicate broth. The variation, known as Kansai-daki, reached Tokyo and influenced the original oden. In fact, traditional soy sauce-based oden has become a rarity, even in Tokyo.

My version of Kanto-style Oden is slightly unorthodox, as it includes a relatively small amount of processed fish paste products. You are welcome to add as much as you like. The secret to making a great oden? Time (it definitely improves with age), a variety of ingredients, and the all-important condiment, karashi, spicy Japanese mustard. This Kanto-style recipe is just one of the collection of regional dishes featured on Thanks for the Meal.
Kanto-Style Oden

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4 persons

Ingredients

24 ounces (685 grams) daikon radish, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch (2-1/2 cm) rounds, simmered over low heat in water for one hour
5-1/4 ounces (150 grams) fresh shiitake mushrooms, washed, stemmed, and placed on bamboo skewers (three per skewer)
1-1/4 lb. (600 grams) white potato, peeled, and cut in half, simmered in water for 30 minutes and drained
To make Fukuro (stuffed, deep-fried tofu):
5 large pieces abura-age (deep-fried tofu), dipped in boiling water for 2 minutes to get rid of excess oil, squeezed to remove excess water, cut in half, then opened to create little sacks
3-1/2 ounces (100 grams) mochi (pounded rice cakes, cut into 3/4 ounce (approx. 20g) slices
8 ounces (225 grams) shirataki (devil’s tongue noodles), cut in half, parboiled, and drained
3 raw eggs
10 8-inch (20cm) long kampyo (dried gourd strips), washed and drained, to tie up the sacks
8 ounces (225 grams) konnyaku (devil’s tongue jelly) cut into triangles, parboiled, and drained
2 chikuwa (fish paste rolls) cut on the bias into thick slices
1 cake tofu, drained and cut into 8 thick squares
4-6 chicken drumsticks
Assorted cut-up fish paste products such as kamaboko and satsuma-age, optional
Dashi Fish Stock:
1 ounce (30 grams) konbu (kelp) wiped with a damp cloth and lightly slashed
8 cups water to soak the kelp in for 30 minutes; retain the water
2 small packets (1/5 ounce or 6g) katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings)
Prepared Dashi Stock:
2 tbsps sake
1/4 cup light soy sauce or to taste
2 tbsps mirin (sweet sake) or to taste
2 tsps salt or to taste
Condiment:
spicy Japanese mustard (karashi) to taste

Instructions

Place the kelp and water into a soup pot over medium heat. Just before it boils, take out the kelp (which can be cut up and added to the oden) and add the bonito shavings. Boil for a minute or two, then strain. Return the stock to a clean soup pot. Add the remaining stock ingredients, adding salt little by little until the flavor is to your liking. Keep the pot simmering.
To make fukuro, carefully stuff each pocket with either shirataki, pounded rice cake, or a shelled raw egg. Tie each pocket up with a dried gourd strip.
To make oden, place all the ingredients into the simmering prepared stock and cook for at least one hour. Bring the pot to the table and serve communally. Place a selection of the cooked ingredients in shallow bowls, serving the fiery mustard separately. If refrigerated, oden will be even tastier the second day. Reheat, adding more ingredients if desired, and serve.

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Photo © Pelican

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Chanko Nabe: A One-Pot Dish for a Pot Belly
A little unknown fact about me is that I love sumo! It is one of the few sports I’ll watch. When I lived in Japan, you couldn’t tear me away from the television whenever sumo was on. I even went to a live Sumo tournament in Tokyo with my then father-in-law and it was sublime! We dined on elegant and yummy bento boxes, drank a lot of beer! and watched sumo for hours. I’ve never had so much fun at a sports event in my life. To this day whenever I think of Sumo wrestlers I still giggle over their appearance and antics, but don’t be deceived, they are true athletes.

YOU’VE PROBABLY SEEN SUMO WRESTLERS in action – remarkably fat, semi-naked, they spend a lot of time hitting themselves on the posterior and prancing around doing what appears to be a rain dance in a dirt ring, trying to knock each other down. At first it looks pretty ludicrous, but after a while you begin to find them rather endearing.

The secret of sumo wrestlers’ rotund figures lies in enormous helpings of chanko nabe, a one-pot dish that is their staple fare. It can, in fact, be just about any form of nabe (one-pot) cooking, but traditionally it is chicken-based.

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One story has it that during the Edo era (1603-1867) a group of wrestlers visiting Nagasaki learned to cook meals in a Chinese wok, or chanko – and brought the habit back to Edo (now Tokyo). Another theory holds that Hidekatsu Watanabe, a former wrestler who owned a restaurant in Tokyo, named the stew in honor of sumo stable masters, or “fathers” (chan), and their “sons” (ko), the wrestlers. But the most likely origin of the dish, although not the name, is that it was invented in the Meiji period (1868-1912) by former yokozuna (grand champion) Hitachiyama. On retiring he opened his own stable where, to save time, he introduced a simple one-dish meal.

The reason behind the preference for chicken is that chickens have two legs, like sumo wrestlers standing in a dohyo (sumo ring). For a wrestler to be on all fours means losing a bout, so it is considered unlucky to eat anything with four legs.

Chanko nabe stock can be flavored with salt, soy sauce, kelp, dried bonito shavings, or a combination of these. Each stable has its own special flavor: some add mirin (sweet sake), others butter. Since the stock is so flavored – good enough to enjoy on its own as a soup – a dipping sauce isn’t necessary. Many sumo wrestlers are diabetic, so chefs are careful about sugar, but otherwise almost anything can be added. The current fad is to add spicy Korean kimchi (pickled cabbage).

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Chanko Nabe: A One-Pot Dish for a Pot Belly

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Ingredients

1 ¾ lbs. chicken parts with bones
3 quarts water
A 6-inch piece of kombu kelp, wiped with a damp cloth and lightly slashed to release flavor
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
8 fresh shiitake mushrooms trimmed
12 oz. shirataki fine white konnyaku [devil’s tongue] noodles
7 oz. spring onion white part only, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 oz. mitsuba trefoil, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 block of grilled tofu drained and cut into 1-inch squares

Instructions

Pour boiling water over the chicken parts to get rid of the odor. Place the chicken, kelp, water, and salt in a Donabe pot or deep soup pot over high heat. When nearly boiling, discard the kelp, turn heat down to a simmer, and cook, covered, for about 20 minutes. Skim off any scum. Remove the chicken to a bowl with a little stock to keep it moist; strain the rest of the stock and, if you prefer, let cool to room temperature and skim off excess fat.
Arrange all the ingredients on a large platter. Half-fill a deep casserole with stock and heat to boiling. Prepare a heat source at the dining table, transfer the casserole to it, and add some chicken, vegetables, and tofu. When just cooked through, allow guests to help themselves to a selection from the pot. Continue adding more ingredients as needed.

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Beef Sukiyaki Recipe
Beef sukiyaki is the perfect recipe to have in winter. It’s a one pot dish that’s cooked and served at the table, making the clean up easier for busy cooks. It’s also a fun way to engage the family and guests together in the cooking process.

Origins of Sukiyaki

Nobody really seems to know the origins of beef sukiyaki. One theory is that in the old days farmers slipped a little flesh into the vegetarian diet imposed by Buddhist strictures by grilling (yaki) meat on a plowshare (suki). In 1873, Emperor Meiji declared that beef was acceptable for consumption, and from that time on it became part of the Japanese diet, although traditional dishes have always used relatively small quantities of meat.

Sukiyaki, called gyunabe during the Meiji era (1868-1912), is beef and vegetables lightly simmered in a sweetened sauce, served with a raw egg as dipping sauce. It’s a warming, filling dish, perfect for winter.

As with many Japanese dishes, the method of making sukiyaki differs from area to area. Kanto (Tokyo area) sukiyaki is made by simmering the beef and vegetables in a prepared sauce, whereas in this version, from Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka area), you make the sauce in the pot as you cook.

There’s also a delicious fish version of sukiyaki called uosuki that’s an Osaka regional specialty.

Beef Sukiyaki Cooking and Serving Tips

One point to remember is that the beef should never be overcooked – it’s best eaten still pink. That’s how gyunabe was served in the good old days.

All you really need with sukiyaki is a bowl of rice, some Japanese pickles, and green tea and fresh fruit to finish off. Sukiyaki can be very filling, as everyone tends to eat a lot of meat, so plan to have enough meat on hand.

My recipes may include affiliate links, so without costing you anything extra, I’ll earn a small percentage of the sales if you purchase these items through these links. Thank you for your support!

Leave a note and rating in the comments section (see below) if you make this dish!
Sukiyaki

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 ¾ lb. thinly sliced sukiyaki–cut beef
a chunk of beef suet, about 1 oz. (often included with sukiyaki –cut beef)
7 oz. negi (Japanese leek), cut diagonally into 1 – inch slices
6 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, with stems removed and a crisscross incision made on the cap to speed up cooking
½ lb. chrysanthemum leaves, cut into 2–inch pieces
A bunch of mitsuba trefoil or seri (Japanese Parsley), cut in half
Slivers of fresh burdock root, optional
1 ½ cakes of grilled tofu, cut into 1–inch cubes
½ lb. shirataki (noodles made from konnyaku, devil’s tongue), parboiled for 2–minutes, drained, and cut in half
A small package of wheat gluten, optional prepared according to instructions on package
4 – 8 eggs
Sauce:
½ – ¾ cup low–sodium soy sauce
¼ – ½ cup white sugar
¼ – ½ cup sake
¼ – ½ cup mirin (sweet rice wine)

Instructions

This dish is cooked at the table, so have all the ingredients ready.
Melt the suet in a sukiyaki pan if you have one (if not, use a cast–iron pan, wok, or frying pan). Add all the vegetables, tofu, shirataki, and wheat gluten if you are using it. Then add a little of each of the sauce ingredients to suit your own taste. The sauce should cover the bottom of the pan but not be excessive. Top with strips of beef and cook briefly, covered, over high to medium heat. After a few minutes remove the lid. As soon as the beef begins to change color, it is ready to eat.
Break an egg per person into individual bowls; each person mixes his egg and uses it as a dipping sauce. The beef should be eaten first, then by the time you get to the vegetables they will be cooked. As you take beef and vegetables from the pan, add more meat, vegetables, and sauce, and continue cooking. If you prefer to make the sauce a bit sweeter, add more sugar and mirin to taste. For a less salty version, add a little water.

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