Trying your hand at Japanese hot pot for the first time? Check out this easy to follow tutorial for all the tips and techniques you need for a glorious home-cooked family-style hot pot.

Chanko-nabe is perfect for cooks new to nabemono; you likely have almost everything to make it at home, and you can find the ingredients at any well-stocked supermarket. You can make chanko-nabe on the stove, if desired.

Chanko Nabe

Recipe presented by Jay Andrews

Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 5 people

Ingredients

  • 6 Japanese-Style Chicken Meatballs *1
  • 1 ½ lb Flaky White Fish (such as cod, branzino and halibut)
  • 8 oz Pork Belly, sliced
  • 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
  • 1 package Medium-Firm Tofu
  • 1 head Bok Choy (trimmed, cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces)
  • 1 cup Gobo (Burdock Root), julienned
  • 2 Carrots (¼-inch slices)
  • 8 Large Shrimp (peeled and tail-on)
  • 1 cup Daikon (¼-inch slices)
  • 2 Tokyo Negi or 6 Scallions, sliced
  • 1 cup Enoki Mushrooms
  • 1 cup Mizuna
  • Udon Noodles, as needed

Broth

  • 6 cup Dashi or Chicken Stock (plus more as needed) *2
  • ¼ cup Inexpensive Sake
  • ¼ cup Soy Sauce
  • 1/3 cup Mirin
  • 1 ½ tsp Minced Garlic
  • Pinch Red Pepper Flakes
  • Kosher Salt, to taste

Instructions

  1. Arrange all the hot-pot ingredients on their own plates and in their own ramekins. Set the plates and ramekins on the table with a portable gas burner.
  2. In a Dutch oven or hot-pot dish, bring the dashi, sake, soy sauce, mirin, garlic and pepper flakes to a simmer. Season the broth to taste with kosher salt.
  3. Transfer the Dutch oven or hot-pot dish to the portable burner (at the table). Return the broth to a simmer.
  4. Cook all the ingredients, except the udon, in the order listed (longest cooking time to shortest cooking time). Keep the broth simmering at all times. Add more stock as needed.
  5. Transfer cooked food to the serving plates, adding fresh broth as needed. Strain the broth and return it to a simmer. Add the udon noodles and cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

Recipe Notes

*1 Get the recipe here.
*2 Get the recipe here.