Easy Japanese Hot Pot Recipe

Easy Japanese Hot Pot

When I was little, I could eat ice cream in sub-zero temperatures and still be able to play in the snow. Now that I’m getting older, the slightest chill in the air makes me go after my winter parka. During the colder time of year, I need food that can warm me up quickly. The perfect food to warm the body and bring families closer together is the Japanese Hot Pot (shabu-shabu). For this Japanese hot pot recipe, you can use the ingredients I listed or add any other vegetables or meat of your choice.

My husband and I usually set up our portable gas burner at the dining table with our Japanese Hot Pot (donabe). Once everything’s set up, it’s time to begin our never ending feast. We wait patiently with our Hot Pot Strainers and race to grab the ingredients that are finished cooking. While my husband prefers ponzu for his dipping sauce, I prefer Sesame Yuzu chili pepper sauce. The citrusy-sesame flavored sauce goes well with everything. When all the veggies, mushrooms, and meat end up in our bellies, we make udon or rice porridge with the left over rich broth. By the end of our meal, nothing is left in the pot!

This recipe makes about 3 to 4 Servings

For the Soup:

1 Japanese Soup Base (starter)
Handful of Clams or King Crab Leg Shells

Vegetables of your choice:

3 to 4 Bok Choy
Handful Crown Daisy
1/4 to 1/2 Chinese Cabbage (cut into bite size pieces)
2 green onion (inch long slices)

Mushrooms of your choice:

2 oz Matsutake (pine mushroom)
2 oz Oyster Mushroom
2 oz Maitake (Hen-of-the-wood mushroom)
2 oz Enokitake (golden needle mushroom)

Meat and Seafood of your choice:

2 oz Thinly Sliced Sukiyaki Beef
2 oz Thinly Sliced Pork Belly or Pork Shoulder
2 oz Tiger Prawn
2 King Crab Legs
Clams
Oden (fish cake)

Dipping Sauce:

Ponzu Sauce
Sesame Yuzu chili pepper sauce

To Finish:

Udon
Left over rice

Things You’ll Need

Cooking Instructions

Clean and prepare the vegetables, mushroom, meat, and seafood.
Fill a Japanese Pot 2/3 of the way with water. Turn on portable burner and bring water to a boil. Add soup starter and clams or king crab leg shells and simmer for about 5 minutes then remove (leaving just the soup).
Now you’re ready to add the veggies, mushroom, and meat! Add a few ingredients at a time and when ready to eat, dip into your favorite dipping sauce.
To finish, you can add udon. To make rice porridge, you can add a bowl of left over rice to the remaining rich soup. When the liquid reduces, you can add an egg, green onion, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and any other left over ingredients.