Japanese Shabu-Shabu: The Philosophy of Minimal Heat

Ingredients

• 600 g wagyu ribeye or sirloin, A5 grade, sliced 1–2 mm; tempered 20 minutes at room temperature before service
• 10 g konbu, wiped clean; do not wash
• 1.5 litres cold water
• For the ponzu
• 100 ml soy sauce
• 100 ml citrus juice, yuzu, sudachi, or a blend of lemon and lime
• 50 ml mirin, gently warmed to burn off alcohol, then cooled
• For the goma-dare
• 120 g white sesame paste (neri-goma)
• 60 ml dashi or warm water, to loosen
• 30 ml soy sauce
• 15 ml mirin
• 10 ml rice vinegar
• For the table condiments
• 150 g daikon, finely grated
• 1 tsp togarashi or chilli flakes, mixed into the grated daikon to form momiji-oroshi
• For the vegetables
• 200 g napa cabbage (hakusai), cut into broad pieces
• 150 g firm tofu, cut into 4 cm cubes
• 100 g shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps scored
• 80 g enoki mushrooms, roots trimmed, separated
• 80 g chrysanthemum greens (shungiku) or watercress, washed
• For the zōsui finale
• 300 g cooked short-grain rice, cold; added to the final enriched broth
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 30 g green onion (negi), thinly sliced

Method

1. 1
   Combine the konbu and cold water in the nabe pot. Set over medium heat and bring slowly toward a simmer. Remove the konbu just before the water reaches a boil — the surface will show fine bubbles rising at the base of the pot. Discard the konbu or reserve. The resulting broth should be faintly golden and carry a clean marine scent.
2. 2
   Prepare the ponzu: combine soy sauce, citrus juice, and the cooled mirin in a small bowl. Stir and set aside at table. Prepare the goma-dare: whisk sesame paste with warm dashi or water until smooth and pourable, then whisk in soy sauce, mirin, and rice vinegar. Adjust consistency with further dashi. Mix grated daikon with chilli to form momiji-oroshi and set at table alongside the two dipping sauces. The sauces are ready when each is fully combined and neither has separated.
3. 3
   Lay the vegetables, tofu, and mushrooms into the pot and cook through at a gentle simmer before the meat course begins — cabbage until tender, mushrooms until yielding, tofu until heated through. The broth begins to accumulate starch and a faint richness. Diners take vegetables as they cook, dipping them in goma-dare.
4. 4
   Maintain the broth at a bare simmer — 85–90 °C, surface trembling but not breaking into a rolling boil. This is where the dish lives or dies: a full boil will overcook paper-thin A5 wagyu in the first instant of contact, collapsing its structure and rendering the premium fat to tallow before it can provide its characteristic silky warmth. If the broth climbs toward a boil, reduce the heat immediately. The correct surface is a gentle, intermittent quiver.
5. 5
   Unfurl one slice of wagyu individually into the simmering broth — do not bunch slices together. Hold with chopsticks and swish gently for 2–3 seconds for A5 wagyu (8–10 seconds for leaner cuts). The slice is ready when the exterior has changed from deep red to pale pink but the interior remains visibly pink and yields without resistance when lifted. Remove immediately and dip in ponzu before eating.
6. 6
   Continue slice by slice through the meat course. The broth deepens in flavour and colour as rendered wagyu fat and vegetable starch accumulate — early slices cook in a neutral medium; later slices cook in an enriched one. This progression is part of the meal's structure, not a defect.
7. 7
   At the meal's conclusion, add the cold cooked rice to the fat-enriched broth remaining in the pot. Stir to combine and bring to a gentle simmer. Pour the beaten egg in a slow stream over the surface, cover briefly, and remove from heat when the egg is just set — the surface should appear lightly coagulated, pale gold, and trembling. Scatter green onion over and serve the zōsui directly from the pot.