Hm… What’s this dish? It looks a little like nabe, or hotpot, doesn’t it? We call this dish “Shabu-Shabu”
It is like the much more simplistic cousin of hotpot! It’s easy to make and healthy, too!
It only requires two things: boiling water and your favorite ingredients!
Shabu-shabu しゃぶしゃぶ- It is a dish cooked in a pot of boiling water. Ingredients are dipped in the pot using chopsticks and swished back and forth until they are cooked. Actually, shabu-shabu is a Japanese onomatopoeia for swish-swish! So get your chopsticks, a large pot, loads of vegetables, sliced meat, and a bunch of friends! Shabu-shabu is best enjoyed under the kotatsu with others.
What kind of thing should you put in shabu-shabu? Well, it’s all up to your taste! Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
I personally love overloading my pot with cabbage, lettuce, carrots, and mushrooms! The more vegetables, the better!
sliced pork belly 豚バラ肉
sliced beef tongue 牛タン
lettuce レタス
Chinese cabbage 白菜
carrot にんじん- Slice them very thinly, or let them simmer for a while!
shimeji mushrooms しめじ
enoki mushrooms えのき
mizuna 水菜
Final tips and tricks about this dish:
- You should keep a spoon to skim the surface of the water after you have been using it for a while. After cooking a lot of vegetables and meat, the water tends to get surface scum. Just scrape it off lightly with your spoon and add more water. Then, you can get right back to cooking!
- You should get a large and wide skillet or pot to boil everything in. Many people have their own nabe pot, but we just use a large skillet at my house.
- Cook the meat first to make sure that you have time to cook it thoroughly. This will also add flavor to the water!
