Japanese Nabe Hot Pot Regional Varieties Chankonabe Yudofu

Ingredients

• For the yudofu
• 20 g kombu (dried kelp), wiped with damp cloth, do not rinse
• 1.5 litres cold water
• 800 g silken tofu, cut into large blocks
• 60 g wakame or simple vegetable addition, rinsed; added at table
• For the ponzu dipping sauce
• 60 ml ponzu, served cold alongside
• For the goma dare dipping sauce (alternative)
• 60 ml goma dare (sesame dipping sauce), served at room temperature
• For the chankonabe broth
• 1.5 litres dashi, kombu-and-bonito base
• 60 ml soy sauce, added with initial restraint; broth deepens during cooking
• 30 ml sake, per litre of broth; removes meat odour, adds body
• For the chankonabe
• 400 g chicken thigh, bone-in or boneless, cut into large pieces
• 300 g firm tofu, cut into large cubes; added late
• 200 g white fish fillet or seafood, cut into large pieces; added late
• 2 eggs, cracked in near the end of cooking
• 200 g root vegetables (daikon, carrot, or potato), peeled and sliced; added first
• 150 g leafy vegetables (napa cabbage or spinach), roughly chopped; added last
• For the shime (closer)
• 300 g cooked rice or udon noodles, added to remaining broth after main ingredients are eaten

Method

1. 1
   Soak the donabe earthenware pot in cold water before first use; this prevents cracking on first contact with heat. Place the kombu in 1.5 litres of cold water in the donabe and bring slowly to the table burner. Do not boil the kombu; remove it when the water reaches a bare simmer — the broth should be faintly oceanic and perfectly clear.
2. 2
   For yudofu: lower the silken tofu blocks gently into the kombu water over the table burner. Maintain the gentlest possible simmer — no vigorous boil at any point. The tofu is ready when it is warmed through and just beginning to tremble at the surface; it must not be agitated into roughness. This is the step on which yudofu lives or dies: the broth must never boil, only breathe. Rubbery tofu is the cost of inattention here.
3. 3
   Serve each portion of warmed tofu immediately from the pot with cold ponzu or room-temperature goma dare alongside. The temperature contrast — warm tofu against cold ponzu — constitutes the complete flavour of the dish. Simple vegetable or seaweed additions may be placed in the broth at the table.
4. 4
   For chankonabe: combine dashi, soy sauce (with initial restraint — the ingredients will release further salt and flavour as cooking progresses), and sake in the donabe over the table burner. Bring to a gentle simmer. Season conservatively at this stage; the broth will deepen throughout the meal.
5. 5
   Add root vegetables (daikon, carrot) first, as they require the longest cooking time. They are ready when a chopstick or skewer meets no resistance at their thickest point.
6. 6
   Add chicken pieces once root vegetables are nearly tender. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the broth has taken on the savour of the meat — the surface of the broth will carry a light golden sheen. Skim any foam that rises in the first minutes of cooking.
7. 7
   Add fish, seafood, firm tofu, and leafy vegetables last, as their cooking times are shortest. Crack the eggs directly into the broth near the end. These ingredients are ready when the fish is just opaque, the tofu is warmed through, the leaves are wilted, and the eggs are just set — a matter of two to three minutes at a simmer.
8. 8
   Finish with shime: once the main ingredients are eaten, the remaining broth — now deeply concentrated with the flavour of every ingredient that cooked in it — is brought back to a simmer and cooked rice or udon noodles are added to make zosui (rice porridge) or a noodle soup. The later pours of broth are more complex than the first. This final course is one of the meal's principal pleasures and should not be omitted.