Japanese Fall/Winter Stew: Nabemono

Nabe (or nabe­mono 鍋物, なべ物), is a type of Japan­ese one-pot dish where a big pot is heated in the mid­dle of the table, and the din­ers cook the food them­selves. Nabe is usu­ally served dur­ing the colder fall and win­ter months when fam­i­lies and friends gather together and share a big stew.

There are sev­eral dif­fer­ent vari­eties depend­ing on the ingre­di­ents added, and where in Japan the recipe orig­i­nated. One of the most well-known types in the US is sukiyaki (すき焼き), which con­sists of thinly sliced beef along with many veg­eta­bles and tofu and is boiled in a teriyaki-like sauce of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. The ingre­di­ents are then dipped in beaten raw eggs before being eaten. At the end, udon or soba noo­dles can be added to soak up the fla­vor­ful broth.

Shabu-shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ, lit­er­ally mean­ing “swish swish”) is very sim­i­lar to sukiyaki, though the broth is more savory than sweet. The broth may just be water, or else lightly fla­vored with konbu (sea­weed). Ingre­di­ents are then dipped in ponzu (see below) or sesame sauce.

Oden (おでん) is another vari­ety where food can be added at any time instead of only at the begin­ning. Ingre­di­ents in addi­tion to the ones below may include boiled eggs, car­rots, pota­toes, green onions, and more.

Com­mon Nabe­mono Ingre­di­ents:

	Daikon (ダイコン) A large, mild radish native to East Asia. It can be eaten raw, cooked, pick­led, or grated.
	Ponzu (ポン酢) A tart, citrus-based sauce used for dip­ping ingre­di­ents in shabu-shabu or other dishes. It is made with mirin, rice vine­gar, kat­suobushi, konbu, and cit­rus juice (such as yuzu [like a grape­fruit], sudachi, daidai [a bit­ter orange], kabosu, or lemon).
	Kat­suobushi (かつおぶし) Dried, fer­mented, and smoked flakes of skip­jack tuna, also known as bonito. It’s often used to make dashi (fish stock), and as a top­ping for many Japan­ese foods.
	Konbu (昆布) Edi­ble kelp sea­weed often used to make dashi soup stock in Japan. It can be pick­led, dried, and even made into tea (which tastes like the ocean to me).
	Tsukune (つくね) Fish or meat balls (if meat, usu­ally chicken). The fish balls I’ve had have been gray and some­times dis­turbingly crunchy (bones, fins, and eyes are all included). They are often fea­tured in some miso soups as well.
	Tofu (豆腐) Often seared or grilled, but some­times just boiled raw in the pot.
	Haku­sai (白菜) Chi­nese cabbage.
	Shungiku (春菊) Edi­ble crysan­the­mum greens. It’s often used in Can­tonese cui­sine, but is pop­u­lar in Japan as well.
	Shi­itake (椎茸) Com­mon Japan­ese mush­room used in many dishes. Can be dried, sauteed, or boiled. Usu­ally only the caps are used.
	Enok­i­take (エノキタケ) Also known as enoki, these are avail­able fresh or canned.
	Soba (そば) A type of thin buckwheat-flour noo­dle. They are often served chilled in sum­mer and hot in win­ter. Can be made into many dif­fer­ent kinds of soup.
	Udon (うどん) A type of thick wheat-flour noo­dle. Like soba, these are often served cold in sum­mer and hot in win­ter. Can be a part of many kinds of soup dishes, depend­ing on the toppings.
	Kam­aboko (蒲鉾) Processed fish cakes made from vari­eties of white­fish and addi­tives like MSG. Spiral-shaped loaves are often called “naruto” after the Japan­ese city which has a well-known whirlpool. The white fish paste is called surimi (擂り身), and is also present in fake crab in the US.
	Chikuwa (竹輪) Another surimi prod­uct made with salt, sugar, starch, and egg whites along with the fish.
	Kon­nyaku (こんにゃく) A mot­tled gray, firm gelatin-like sub­stance which is mostly fla­vor­less. The blocks can be cut into thin noo­dles and used in oden or sukiyaki. The gel itself is made from plants.

Related posts:

1. Fall Foods in Japan
2. Ryouri o tsukuri­mashou! Yel­low­tail Teriyaki
3. Ryouri o tsukuri­mashou! Roast Chinjao
4. Japan­ese Gro­cery Stores in New York