Akita Kiritanpo Nabe Hot Pot

Ingredients

• For the kiritanpo
• 600 g Akita Komachi or Sasanishiki short-grain rice, cooked, then pounded to 80% mochi texture — grain identity must be retained
• 4 cedar skewers, lightly toasted before pressing rice on to prevent sticking
• For the hinaidori dashi
• 1 hinaidori chicken carcass, briefly dry-roasted before boiling to deepen the broth
• 1.5 litres water
• For the nabe
• 400 g hinaidori chicken pieces, bone-in, skin-on
• 150 g gobo burdock root, scrubbed and cut into oblique pieces
• 150 g maitake mushrooms, torn into large clusters
• 100 g konnyaku, torn or cut into bite-sized pieces
• 100 g seri watercress, washed, cut into 5 cm lengths; added only in the final minute
• For the miso-dengaku (optional)
• 60 g Akita sweet miso
• 2 tbsp mirin, blended with the miso before grilling

Method

1. 1
   Dry-roast the hinaidori chicken carcass in a heavy pot over medium-high heat until the surface colours and fragrance rises. Add 1.5 litres of cold water and bring to a simmer. Skim diligently. Simmer until the broth turns a deep, sustained gold and carries the fat-rich savour characteristic of hinaidori. Strain and reserve. The broth is ready when it is visibly golden and the aroma is full without sharpness.
2. 2
   Cook the rice and pound it, while still warm, to approximately 80% of full mochi texture — enough to bind but leaving grain identity perceptible to the touch. Lightly toast the cedar skewers. Press the warm rice firmly around each skewer in a tight cylinder, closing any gaps with steady palm pressure. The surface should feel smooth and compact; the interior should yield slightly when pressed.
3. 3
   Grill the rice skewers over charcoal, turning steadily, until the exterior develops a faint caramelised crust and a faint toasty scent rises. The interior must remain soft. This is where the dish lives or dies: insufficient grilling yields no crust and the kiritanpo will disintegrate in the broth; excessive grilling hardens the core and ruins the texture. The crust should be lightly golden, the scent gently nutty, and the surface firm to a light tap.
4. 4
   Bring the strained hinaidori dashi to a steady simmer in the nabe pot. Add the chicken pieces, gobo, maitake, and konnyaku. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, the gobo yields without resistance, and the mushrooms have released their liquor into the broth.
5. 5
   Cut the grilled kiritanpo skewers on the bias into thick oblique coins. Pour boiling dashi over the cut pieces before introducing them to the pot — do not place cold pieces into hot broth, as this causes surface gumminess. Add the kiritanpo to the simmering pot only briefly. They are ready when they have absorbed the broth on their cut faces and are warmed through but still hold their shape.
6. 6
   In the final minute of cooking, add the seri. It is done when the leaves are barely wilted and the peppery, celery-like fragrance asserts itself above the broth. Serve immediately from the pot.