Japanese Dobin Mushi Aromatic Autumn Broth

Ingredients

• For the dashi
• 15 g kombu, wiped clean with a damp cloth, not washed
• 20 g katsuobushi, finest grade, added off the heat
• 1 litre cold water
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, adjust with restraint
• 1 tsp light soy sauce, usukuchi preferred; use sparingly
• For the dobin
• 80 g matsutake mushroom, fresh; wiped, trimmed, sliced 5 mm; one or two slices per teapot
• 4 hamaguri clam, scrubbed, one per teapot
• 4 kuruma ebi (prawn), shell-on, deveined, one per teapot
• 12 ginko nuts, shelled, three per teapot
• 12 g mitsuba (trefoil), stems trimmed, a small sprig per teapot
• 80 g chicken, breast or thigh, cut into small bite-sized pieces; optional, one or two pieces per teapot
• For service
• 2 kabosu citrus, halved; one half per two portions, or presented in a small squeeze bottle

Method

1. 1
   Combine the kombu and cold water in a saucepan. Bring slowly to just below a simmer — approximately 60 °C — and hold for 20 minutes. Remove the kombu. Raise the heat until the water reaches a full simmer, add the katsuobushi, and remove the pan from the heat immediately. Allow the flakes to steep for 3 minutes, then strain through a fine-mesh cloth without pressing. The finished dashi must be pale gold and entirely clear.
2. 2
   Season the strained dashi with salt and light soy sauce, erring on the side of under-seasoning — the sealed steaming will concentrate both the broth and its salt. Taste: the dashi should be delicate, its savour barely present. The ingredients and the matsutake will contribute further seasoning during steaming.
3. 3
   Bring a steamer to a steady medium steam. Distribute the matsutake slices, hamaguri clam, kuruma ebi, ginko nuts, chicken (if using), and mitsuba among the four dobin teapots. Ladle the seasoned dashi into each teapot, filling to approximately three-quarters capacity — roughly 200 ml per vessel — to allow steam to circulate above the surface. Seat the lids firmly. This is where the dish lives or dies: the matsutake must be fresh, the dashi must be pristine, and the teapots must be sealed completely — any compromise in the mushroom's aromatic quality or any flaw in the dashi will be amplified and trapped by the steam, with no remedy possible.
4. 4
   Steam the sealed teapots over medium steam for 8 to 12 minutes. The clam should open, the prawn should be just opaque, and the broth should carry the pine fragrance of matsutake throughout. Account for carryover: remove the teapots from the steamer while the ingredients are barely cooked through. The exterior of each teapot should be too hot to hold comfortably.
5. 5
   Bring each sealed teapot to the table immediately on a small tray alongside its sake cup and the kabosu citrus. Instruct the guest in the intended sequence: first, pour a small measure of broth into the sake cup and drink it — this is the purest expression of the dish. Then, if desired, squeeze a little kabosu into the cup to transform the broth with brightness. The acid is added only to the cup, never to the teapot, so that the unacidified broth remains for those who prefer it. Finally, open the teapot and eat the contents. The broth in the cup should be fragrant with matsutake and visibly clear.