Yesterday was Matt's birthday so I decided to have some of our friends over to have a crab hot pot.Hot pot, or Nabe (pronounced like nah-be) is everyone's favorite in Japan. When it starts to get cold outside, families gather around the table and enjoy nabe together. It is kind of like a symbol of happy family dinners to me.
I actually did not grow up having the occasions of nabe with my family. I was an only child and my dad was never home. When I started elementary school, my mom was working till late so I prepared myself a small dinner every night. So, now I have "family"-like friends around me, I get to have nabe . How awesome !
Nabe recipes evolve forever. There are already so many kinds of traditional nabe recipes , which usually represent the regional flavors from all over Japan. Then, we also have new or modern recipes combining some flavors from all over the world, such as curry nabe or kimuchi nabe.
When I had girls over for dinner/wine night, I chose the healthy vegetarian soy-milk nabe. It fills you up really good because of the soup and lots of veges, but you can keep it very low calories. I love that about nabe.
Crab nabe was delicious. Here is how you prepare.
1. Get the ingredients:
- Crab legs: I bought 3 lbs this time for about 7 people.
- Vegetables: Napa cabbage, Daikon radish, Green onions, Onions, Mizuna ( Japanese water greens) and Tofu.
- Broth: Konbu seaweed, Bonito flakes, Mirin, Sake, Soy sauce, Salt
2. Prepare the broth... good broth is the most important part of nabe. I like very simple taste for the broth so that it does not overpower the natural tastes of vegetables and crab. First you soak dashi-konbu, which is the dried seaweed for broth, in 6 cups of water for a 2-3 hours. Then heat the water to boil and take the konbu out.
Next , you put the bonito flakes in it , boil again for about 5 min and take those out.
Add 4 spoons each of Japanese sake, Mirin and light soy sauce. Add a little bit of salt. I like adding a bit of sugar too.
2. Cut the vegetables and crab. I cut veges then put them on the plate. Nabe is the ongoing cooking. We keep adding more food in the pot to keep going as we eat. So it is good to have those vegetables cut and ready. Taste it and adjust.
3. Start adding vegetables in the order.... Root vegetables like onions, daikon radish or carrots go first. Mushrooms , tofu and crab legs go next. Greens go last as they cook very quick.
That's it. You can keep adding vegetables and crab legs as you eat and the pot gets more room.
Traditionally we add noodles or rice in the left over soup to 'close' the nabe dinner in Japan.
But I tend to replace that with the room for some beers :)
Life is good.
