Japanese Shabu-shabu is a really fun way to enjoy a meal.
Shabu-shabu literally means swish-swish, the sound the food makes as you move it through the broth with your chopsticks.
A broth is made and brought to the table and placed on a burner so that a very thinly sliced beef, lamb or pork, along with a whole assortment of vegetables can be cooked by each guest right in the pot at the table.
Udon noodles are also served alongside the meat and vegetables and typically enjoyed toward the end when the broth or dashi has been well flavored. It is also traditional to serve this with delicious sauces. I made three different ones and you can easily buy some ready made chili oil and ponzu, I would recommend though you make the sesame one from scratch, Yummy!
The guest chooses what they put into the pot and when they remove it, they choose their dipping sauce or combination thereof. I have an electric hot pot that can be brought table side, many Asian markets have propane versions available. I have listed one here if you want to have one delivered.
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Click Here to get one.
A healthful and fun way to enjoy an authentic Japanese meal. Just a couple of notes, you need to use a really good cut of beef, lamb or pork and something with some nice marbling. You can find pre-sliced beef, pork etc. in your local Asian market. You could also ask you butcher to do it for you however it needs to be super thin so it cooks quickly in the broth.
You may find these helpful too:
Shabu Shabu Scoops set of 6
Japanese Shabu-Shabu (Hot Pot)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds prime-quality well-marbled beef, lamb or pork
- 8 shiitake mushrooms wiped and trimmed
- 4 leeks cleaned and sliced or 8 green onions cleaned and trimmed
- 8 leaves Chinese cabbage Napa sliced
- 1 package enoki mushroom trimmed
- 1 cake tofu Medium firm
- 12 baby bok choy cleaned and trimmed
- 8 mustard green leaves sliced
- 2 packages Udon noodles fresh or frozen
- Chili sauce see below
- ponzu sauce see below
- sesame sauce see below
- For the broth or dashi
- 4- inch 10cm square giant kelp (kombu)
- 1/2 cup bonito flakes
- 8 cups water
- For the chili sauce
- 1 cup canola oil
- 6 dried arbol or Thai chilies stemmed and crumbled
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 teaspoon paprika sweet
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- For the Ponzu sauce
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3/4 cups soy sauce
- 3/4 cups rice wine vinegar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- For the Sesame Sauce:
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 Tablespoons mirin
- 3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons Tahini
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons miso paste
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons sake
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- For the dashi (Broth)
- In a large saucepan over high heat, bring the kombu (Seaweed) and water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add in the bonito flakes and let simmer 5 more minutes. Run the broth through a fine mesh sieve and discard the solids. Put the broth in the vessel you will be using table side for the shabu-shabu.
- While the dashi is simmering,
- Plate the meat on a platter (Please note that the meat should always be served on a separate platter from the vegetables)
- Arrange the vegetables and tofu on a platter
- cook the udon noodles until just aldente and place in a serving bowl.
- For the Chili sauce:
- combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan over high heat. Heat until the oil just begins to simmer then reduce to low for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 30 minutes.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve and discard the solids. Serve with Shabu-shabu. This can be made ahead it will store up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
- For the Ponzu Sauce:
- In a small saucepan mix together all the ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Serve with Shabu-shabu note this can be made ahead and will store up to 1 week in refrigerator.
- For the Sesame sauce:
- In a small bowl whisk together all the ingredients until smooth. Serve with Shabu-Shabu or will keep up to 2 weeks in refrigerator.
- Putting it all together:
- Put the dashi on the burner and keep hot
- Bring out the vegetable, meat and noodle platters
- Bring out the sauces
- Each guest should have chopsticks, and bowls to eat out of.
- Let the fun begin!
