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1
Warm each dobin earthenware pot before filling — cold ceramic draws heat away from the ingredients. Set the dobins in the empty bamboo steamer briefly, or rinse with hot water and dry. The pot should feel warm to the palm before any ingredient is added.
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2
Divide the thinly sliced matsutake, chicken or fish pieces, and shelled gingko nuts evenly among the four dobins. Pour the lightly seasoned dashi to 70–80% of each dobin's capacity — filling beyond this point will cause liquid to overflow through the lid during steaming and the aromatic broth will be lost. Fit the lid firmly.
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3
Place the sealed dobins in a bamboo steamer set over water maintained at 90°C — a gentle, misting steam, not a vigorous rolling boil. Vigorous steam creates turbulence that clouds the broth and toughens the ingredients. Steam for 12 minutes.
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4
This is where the dish lives or dies: at the 12-minute mark, lift the steamer lid and add the separated lily bulb scales to each dobin, replacing each lid immediately after. Continue steaming at 90°C for a further 3 minutes only. The lily bulb scales soften rapidly; any longer and they become mushy and lose their distinct, clean sweetness. After 3 minutes, the gingko nuts should yield without resistance when pressed, and the broth inside will be pale gold and clear.
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5
Add the mitsuba to each dobin in the final 30 seconds of steaming. Its fragrance should be just released — bright and green — without wilting to dullness.
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6
Remove the dobins from the steamer and carry each, sealed, to the table. Present each diner with a halved sudachi alongside. The diner squeezes a small amount of sudachi juice into the dobin through the spout or after briefly lifting the lid, gives the pot a gentle shake, then pours the fragrant broth into the small attached cup. The broth is sipped first — it should be clear, pale gold, and release a distinct cloud of matsutake steam on opening. The solids are eaten afterward. This sequence is the formal service protocol and is not altered.