Japanese Chanko Nabe Sumo Wrestler Hotpot and Ryōgoku Stable Food Culture

Ingredients

• For the broth
• 1 kg whole chicken pieces (thighs, drumsticks, carcass sections), bone-in, skin-on; do not substitute breast alone
• 1 piece konbu, wiped clean with a damp cloth
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 60 ml sake
• For the tsukune
• 400 g chicken thigh mince, hand-chopped or coarsely ground
• 60 g chicken cartilage, finely minced; from knee joints or wing tips
• 1 tbsp white miso
• 15 g fresh ginger, finely grated
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• For the pot
• 300 g firm tofu, cut into large cubes
• 300 g cabbage, roughly torn into large pieces
• 150 g carrot, sliced on the diagonal
• 100 g gobo (burdock root), scrubbed, shaved into thin strips, held in cold water
• 150 g fresh mushrooms (shiitake or shimeji), stems trimmed; shiitake scored on cap if large
• For the shime
• 400 g fresh udon noodles, or cooked rice for zōsui; added only after all other ingredients are consumed

Method

1. 1
   Place the bone-in chicken pieces in a large pot and cover with cold water. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Skim the grey foam and fat that rise continuously during the first several minutes. When the surface runs clear and only white foam remains, the initial purge is complete.
2. 2
   Add the konbu to the pot. Reduce the heat to a steady, gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove the konbu before it softens to the point of releasing bitterness. Remove the chicken pieces, strip the meat from the bones, and return the shredded meat to the broth. Add the soy sauce and sake. The broth should be pale gold and faintly viscous — the collagen from the bones has begun to bind it.
3. 3
   Combine the chicken thigh mince, minced cartilage, white miso, grated ginger, and chopped spring onion in a bowl. Work the mixture firmly until cohesive. Form into balls of approximately 30 g each. This is where the dish lives or dies: the cartilage must be present and finely worked in — it provides the irregular, slightly resistant texture that distinguishes chanko tsukune from a generic chicken meatball; a smooth, cartilage-free mix produces a commercial approximation only.
4. 4
   Bring the broth back to a steady simmer. Add the tsukune and the gobo (drained from its cold water). Cook for 8 minutes. The meatballs are ready when they have firmed fully and float; the gobo should yield to a knife tip but retain a faint resistance at its core.
5. 5
   Add the tofu cubes and carrot slices. Simmer a further 5 minutes. The carrot should be just tender; the tofu will have puffed slightly and taken on a golden cast at its surface from the broth.
6. 6
   Add the cabbage and mushrooms. Cook only until the cabbage has wilted to a translucent, silky state and the mushrooms have released their liquid into the broth — no longer than 3 to 4 minutes. The pot is now ready to serve communally from the heat source at the table.
7. 7
   When all solid ingredients have been eaten, add the udon noodles directly to the remaining broth — now concentrated by the accumulated flavour of every previous ingredient. Simmer until the noodles are heated through and have absorbed the broth's colour and body. Taste the broth: it should be deeply savoury, markedly richer than at the start of the meal. This shime is the nutritional and cultural conclusion of the pot.