Shabu-Shabu
Japan's swish-and-dip hot pot: paper-thin beef swirled through gentle kombu broth, dipped in ponzu or creamy sesame sauce, finished with udon.
Method
Wipe the kombu lightly with a damp cloth to remove any grit; the white powder on it is flavour, so don't wash it off. Put the water and kombu in a 22 cm hot pot (donabe) or wide pot and leave to soak for .
Add in this stepWater 1,000 mlKombu (dried kelp) 8 g
Meanwhile, prepare everything. Separate the white cabbage stems from the leaves and cut both into 4–5 cm pieces; cut the tofu into 3 cm cubes. Remove the shiitake stems, trim the base off the enoki and pull them apart. Slice the carrot 3 mm thick and the long onion diagonally 1 cm thick, and pick the tough stems off the shungiku. Arrange it all on a large platter, and keep the beef in the fridge until you sit down to eat.
Make the two sauces. Ponzu: squeeze the grated daikon lightly to remove excess water, divide it between small bowls with the ponzu and top with spring onion. Sesame sauce: mix the sesame paste with the sugar, soy sauce and vinegar, then whisk in the warm water a little at a time until smooth and thick like double cream.
Add in this stepPonzu sauce 5 tbspDaikon radish, finely grated 80 gSliced spring onion 2 tbspSesame paste (Japanese nerigoma or tahini) 3 tbspSoy sauce 1 tbspSugar 1 tbspRice vinegar 1 tspWarm water (for the sesame sauce) 3 tbsp
Put the pot over medium heat and heat for . When small bubbles start rising around the kombu and from the bottom of the pot, lift the kombu out just before it boils; boiled kombu makes the broth slimy and bitter. Let the broth come to a gentle simmer.
medium heatAdd the carrot, cabbage stems, shiitake, tofu and half the long onion and cook over medium heat for ; the firm vegetables go in first to sweeten the broth. Now move the pot to a portable burner on the table, set on a flat, stable surface in a ventilated room.
Add in this stepCarrot 50 gNapa cabbage 150 gFresh shiitake mushrooms 3Firm tofu 150 gJapanese long onion (or leek) ½
medium heatSet the heat to medium-low heat so the broth steams and barely bubbles rather than boiling hard. Pick up one slice of beef with chopsticks and swish it back and forth in the broth for 10–15 seconds, until the red has almost gone and it turns light brown, then lift it out and dip it in a sauce. Longer cooking makes it tough. Add the cabbage leaves, enoki, shungiku and the rest of the long onion a little at a time as you eat, cooking them 1–2 minutes, and skim off any foam with a ladle. Use separate chopsticks for handling raw meat.
Add in this stepBeef for shabu-shabu (sirloin or similar, sliced 1–2 mm thin) 240 gNapa cabbage 150 gEnoki mushrooms 100 gShungiku (crown daisy) or spinach 60 gJapanese long onion (or leek) ½
medium-low heatWhen the meat and vegetables are finished, skim the foam and fat from the broth, add the udon and cook over medium heat for . Season with salt and serve in bowls with the broth, adding a little leftover ponzu or spring onion. The broth, now full of flavour from the meat and vegetables, is the star of this finale.
Add in this stepFrozen udon (packs of about 200 g) 1Salt to taste
medium heat
Cook's tip
If you make it with pork, cook each slice until completely white with no pink at all (30–60 seconds). Ask the butcher for shabu-shabu slicing and they will cut it 1–2 mm thin; at home, half-frozen meat is much easier to slice thinly.
Cooking it at camp
With a camping gas burner and a pot, shabu-shabu works perfectly outdoors. Soak the kombu in a water bottle at home and it is ready as broth when you arrive. Thin-sliced meat spoils fast, so keep it in a cooler at 4 °C or below and eat it on the first day. Never use a burner inside a tent.