Gomamiso Yosenabe - Sesame Miso Hotpot

Nabe (pronounced nabeh) is the Japanese word for “pot” and is used to refer to a class of dishes which includes favourites such as shabu shabu and sukiyaki. Yose (pronounced yoseh) means to “put together”, so yosenabe is a dish that’s often cooked in a pot at the table with meat, seafood and veggies put together.Depending on what region of Japan you’re from, the broth can be made from seafood or meat and can be seasoned with miso, soy sauce or salt. All the regional combinations of items that go into nabes, makes it a very versatile dish that’s eaten all over Japan in winter. This is all just a long way of saying that there’s no right way to make a nabe.At its core, it’s a simple hearty stew that’s heavy on vegetables and light on meat. Because it’s typically cooked in a giant ceramic or cast iron pot at the table, it’s boiling hot when it reaches your bowl and is a great way to warm up during the cold months.While I’m no expert on all the regional variations of yosenabe (I doubt anyone could really keep track of all the variations), I’m fairly certain putting tahini into a nabe is pretty uncommon. It’s a weird quirk I have that started with a penchant for putting tahini in packaged ramens to give them a little more oomph. I love it because it gives the soup a white creaminess not unlike the rich pork broth used in tonkotsu ramen. The earthy flavors of are perfect compliments and the rich creaminess provides the stick-to-your-ribs feel without the stick-to-your-ribs calories.

Yield:

Serves 4-8

Ingredients

1. For the Stock
2. ================
3. 3 C dashi
4. 1/4 C miso
5. 2 Tbs mirin
6. 1 Tbs tahini
7. 1 tsp sugar
8. .
9. Root Vegetables (A):
10. ================
11. Carrots
12. Daikon
13. Potatao
14. .
15. Meats
16. ================
17. Chicken thighs cut into chunks
18. Pork sliced
19. Prawns
20. Fish cut it chunks
21. .
22. Green Vegetables (B)
23. ================
24. Ramps
25. Green Onions
26. Yellow Onions
27. Leek
28. .
29. Fungi
30. ================
31. Shiitake Mushrooms
32. Enoki Mushrooms
33. Matsutake Mushrooms
34. Shimeji Mushrooms
35. .
36. Other
37. ================
38. Shirataki
39. Tofu
40. .
41. Lettuces & Cabbages (C)
42. ================
43. Napa cabbage
44. Cabbage
45. Chrysanthemum
46. Spinach
47. Mizuna

Directions

1. In a medium cast iron pot, clay pot, or french oven (like a Le Creuset), add all the ingredients for the stock and whisk to combine. Heat over a table top burner or on the stove until simmering. Add a few items from veggie group A as well as any meat you want to add. After they’ve cooked, add some items from veggies group B, mushrooms, and other. When those are ready, finish by adding some veggies from group C.
2. Serve with an empty bowl and bowl of rice, keeping a ladle and long chopsticks at the table to pick out the bits each person wants.
3. It’s also common to finish the meal by adding a bowl of pre-cooked ramen, udon or rice into the left over stock after most of the veggies and meat have been eaten.

Notes

Before you balk at the long list of ingredients, you don’t need everything, just 1 or 2 from each category.