Japanese Fish Nabe Recipe

Japanese Fish Nabe:
Cooking time: 20-30min.
Serves: 4-6






This dish is nothing like the ones Grandma would make, or anyone would eat back home in Minnesota for that matter. It a traditional Japanese winter dish that I’ve fallen in love with since I’ve been living in Japan. I just had to give you all a look at some real Japanese cuisine. 

All over Japan in the cold winter months, family’s huddle up under the Kotatsu to keep warm and eat Nabe. There are many, many kinds of Nabe, and style vary depending on what region you live in or who’s the cook in your household. 

 There is fish Nabe, Pork Nabe, Chicken Nabe, Vegetable Nabe, even curry Nabe. Nabe is basically a hot loaded with vegetables and fish or thin slices of meat. 

Of course there are many traditional ingredients and proper ways of cooking Nabe, like all things Japanese, however most Japanese tell me when I ask them what to put in Nabe “Nan demo ii” “Anything’s ok.” 

I’m pretty sure the way I make Nabe isn’t exactly “traditional” but it’s good and I really recommend you give it a try! Two things I recommend for the Midwest to get through the cold winters, Kotatsu, and Nabe! Try it out and Enjoy!



Ingredients:

· One big head of Hakusai (Chinese Cabbage)
· 2 large Carrots
· A bundle of Shimeji mushrooms
· 6 Shitake Mushrooms
· 2 long leeks.
· One block of raw or fried tofu.
· Two cod fillets cut into four strips.
· A dozen or so fresh shrimp, (a bag frozen shrimp will do just fine as well)
· A hand full of Moyashi (bean sprouts)
· 8 to 10 cups of Dashi (soup broth) In Japan you can buy premade Nabe soup broth, however you could always make your own back home using bouillon cubes of whatever taste suits your liking. For this recipe I recommend Goma (sesame) it goes good with the shrimp and fish!


To Cook:

Cooking nabe is relatively a very simple matter, but the preparation can be a little time consuming

~ First get yourself a really sharp knife and a good sized cutting board~ start buy rinsing all of your vegetables off really well you want them to be really clean

~ Next add the soup broth to the nabe pot

~ start by slicing up your Chinese cabbage and adding it to the soup broth

~ Then add your bean sprouts to the cabbage

~ Next peel and chop up your carrots into finger long slices add them to the pot in a long row

~ after that chop your leeks into thumb sized pieces and place them in a row next to the carrots

~ Chop up the access leek leafs and add them in with the Chinese cabbage

~ Rinse and de-tird your shrimp and add them to the pot

~ Next cub your tofu and add it on top of the shrimp

~ Chop off the dirty bottoms of your Shimeji mushrooms and add them to one side of the pot

~ Slice up your Shitake mushrooms and place them on top of the tofu and shrimp

~ Last but not least strip your fish fillets and place them anywhere on top where they will fit. 

Now you’ve got your pot loaded up with goodies place the cover on and cook it on a low heat for around a half hour or so, checking it every now and then. When it comes to a boil bring it down to a low heat~ Let it cool and serve in small bowls with a ladle.


Sever it in a small bowl and eat with chopsticks! If you can! Some Japanese people server nabe with a side of white rice or a salad. I’ve seen some families that also boil noodles and when all of the veggies and meat are gone eat up the left over broth with the noodles. But nabe itself is pretty filling so you shouldn’t need much of a side dish! Time to have yourself a Nabe Party!


In Japan they have a special kind of pot for Nabe; in fact the word nabe means “pot”. It’s made out of ceramics and has a large lid with holes for letting out steam. They also have a special small gas stove used for cooking nabe, which is placed in the center of the table so the nabe can cook while people are sitting under the toasty warm kotatsu. 

A kotatsu is a small blanketed table with an electric heater on the bottom that most Japanese people use during the winter time to keep warm, because houses are so poorly insulated. But since most of you don’t have a Kotatsu or may have trouble finding a Nabe pot you can do the same thing in any large pot with a lid, or some types of casserole pots would work perfectly. It’s really delicious and very healthy! Have a Japanese evening and give it a try!

Here is a really great video about making Nabe. The dude has pretty good English and it explains very simply how to make a good Nabe and he also explains a great way to make your own Dashi! I recommend watching it before you give it a try! Gambare! Enjoy!