Rice Cooker Nabemono

It's the middle of spring over here in Japan, and after a few days of cloudy days, sun, and more clouds,  the sky finally decided to make up its mind and rain on us over the weekend.

From 26°C we fell down to, what, 15°C, 16°C? 10°C is a huge difference. Although as I write this blog post the sky's clear as all hell and we had been hit once more with 26°C this afternoon, I felt like I needed to have something warm and healthy for the cold weather the last two days. I wasn't feeling like having some sukiyaki this time, so I went for the more savory alternative:

I've given a brief explanation of nabemono (鍋物) back in my post about sukiyaki. In the old days of Sunrise Land, nabe was a staple of most dinners especially in the winter, and to this day they still are. Families and friends alike gather round clay cooking pots over hearths on the floor called irori (囲炉裡), sharing bowls of soup filled with veggies and meats, sharing warmth and a hearty meal to get them through the cold. These days you rarely see traditional Japanese homes with irori; instead you see a cast iron pot boiling stew over a butane gas stove.

This is an irori in a traditional house in Okutama (奥多摩), the mountains of western Tokyo. In the old days people cooked nabe through these things in the comforts of their homes, and people in provincial areas still do so today.

In my time here in Tokyo, I rarely run into a nabe shop. Most shops I see are ramen shops, izakayas, sushi counters, and gyūdon restaurants. Then there's the occasional tempura or curry place down the corner. Call me ignorant and maybe I am, but that's just my experience.

There are different kinds of nabe, as I mentioned previously. But their components always consist of a basic dashi broth, soy sauce, mirin, vegetables, and meat. You can also essentially put in whatever mix of veggies and meat that you want. For today though I'll be doing my own rice cooker nabe (oh, the irony) that has a bunch of ingredients, a couple of which being optional.

This should serve about 3-4 people.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 piece Napa cabbage
• 1 block tofu
• 1 piece onion
• 60 g enoki mushrooms
• 6 pieces shiitake mushrooms
• 8 leaves spinach
• 600 g beef/pork strips or 600 g cubed chicken breasts
• 60 g dashi powder
• 600 g water
• 30 g soy sauce
• 15 g mirin
• 1 piece carrot (optional)
• 1 stalk leek (optional)
• 1 small bunch chrysanthemum (optional)

Forgot to add the soy sauce and mirin in the picture... Whoops.

1. In a pot, put some water inside and set your stove on a low heat (170°C). Put in your dashi powder, soy sauce and mirin when it starts to simmer and leave it on the heat until the taste becomes more potent.
2. Slice your onions, carrot, leeks, and cabbage. Dispose the root of the cabbage.
3. Remove the stalks from the shiitake. Chop off the lower, dirty half of the enoki bunch and dispose it.
4. Wash and pluck the leaves of your spinach and chrysanthemum (if you're using this) from their stalks.
5. Divide your tofu into smaller cubes.
6. In your rice cooker, place your meat, veggies (except the spinach and chrysanthemum), and dashi all in this particular order. Close the lid and turn on your rice cooker. For Japanese rice cookers, use hayadaki (早炊き). Let it boil until you see that your meat is properly cooked, then leave it warm.
7. Add in the spinach and chrysanthemum. Let them simmer into the stew a little.
8. Serve with rice and your nabemono sauce of choice.

Was a hassle to put together like this, more so getting the picture right, because of temperature danger zones for my meat.

See? Ezpz. Now this recipe isn't a by-the-book kind of recipe; like I said before you can essentially put in anything you want. You can omit some ingredients if you have more of one thing than the other too. For example, if you want to have more spinach than cabbage, feel free to do so. Not a fan of mushrooms nor leeks? No need to put them in there. No other veggies but chrysanthemum and onions? Let loose, amigo. Your nabe, your veggies, your choice.

Bouquet ideas for your next date.

Your choice of meat too. If you're using beef or pork, always use strips of them so they cook easy. And always remember that when you use pork and chicken, your meat must be fully cooked. Don't give me that "But I want my meat medium rare!" crap unless you desperately want some salmonella, in which case be my guest. The heat of your stew in the rice cooker though is sure enough going to boil the hell out of your meat to full doneness anyway.

After your stew is cooked, you'll want to dip your meat in something. Your two main choices would be either ponzu (ポン酢) or gomadare (胡麻垂れ). Personally I like to use this one called Yuzupon, which is ponzu with the sharp, citrusy taste of Japanese yuzu lemons. Compliments my food rather nicely, if I do say so myself. If you want a similar taste in your own nabe but you can't find this sauce at your own supermarket, then just add lemon juice in your nabe (about 15 g) and eat your nabe with regular ponzu.

Now that that's all over and done with, ladle some of that soup into a bowl and chow down!