Josenabe and Kaiseki Winter Hotpot Service

Ingredients

• For the dashi base
• 20 g kombu, wiped clean with a damp cloth, not rinsed
• 1.5 litres water, cold, for cold-steeping the kombu
• For the nabe assembly — root vegetables
• 200 g daikon, peeled, sliced into 2 cm rounds
• 150 g carrot, peeled, cut on the bias into 1.5 cm slices
• For the nabe assembly — tofu
• 300 g firm tofu, cut into large cubes, drained on a cloth
• For the nabe assembly — luxury proteins
• 200 g abalone, cleaned, scored on the flesh side, sliced
• 150 g matsutake mushrooms, wiped clean, torn or sliced lengthways
• For the nabe assembly — greens
• 100 g chrysanthemum greens (shungiku), washed, large stems trimmed
• For seasoning
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, for adjusting the dashi at table; add with restraint
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce (usukuchi), for final seasoning of the broth
• 1 tbsp mirin, for the dashi base
• For condiments
• 30 g yuzu kosho, served alongside in individual condiment dishes
• 30 g momiji-oroshi (grated daikon with chilli), prepared and held chilled until service
• For the shime
• 300 g cooked short-grain rice, for zosui; or substitute udon or somen as guests prefer
• For the backup vessel
• 500 ml reserved kombu dashi, kept hot in a small vessel at the pass for tableside broth replenishment

Method

1. 1
   Cold-steep the kombu in 1.5 litres of water for a minimum of 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight. Place over medium heat and bring slowly toward a simmer. Remove the kombu just before the water reaches a full boil — small bubbles will form on the kombu's surface and the water will carry a faint marine scent. Season the dashi with usukuchi soy sauce and mirin. Taste: the broth should be light, clear, and delicate — its role is to carry, not to dominate.
2. 2
   Place the daikon and carrot into the dashi in the vessel that will go to the table. Bring to a gentle simmer and hold for 8–10 minutes. The root vegetables should yield at the edge when pressed with a chopstick but retain their structural centre. The broth will take on a faint sweetness from the daikon; this is the intended transition from the clean opening register toward the mid-pot richness.
3. 3
   Add the firm tofu. Hold at a quiet simmer — a rolling boil is not permitted; it clouds the broth and compromises the kaiseki aesthetic. After 4–5 minutes the tofu will have warmed through and begun to absorb the dashi, swelling very slightly at the cut edges. It is ready when it holds its cube but offers no resistance to gentle pressure.
4. 4
   This is the step on which the dish lives or dies. Add the abalone and matsutake together. The matsutake must perfume the broth — its pine-forest, autumnal fragrance is the aromatic identity of the luxury yosenabe. Hold the simmer for 2–3 minutes only. The abalone should be just opaque and yielding; the matsutake will have softened at the stem while retaining their form. Remove from the heat immediately if the proteins have reached their moment — overcooking at this stage is unrecoverable.
5. 5
   Add the chrysanthemum greens (shungiku) for the final 30 seconds before the pot is lidded and transported to the table. They will wilt just enough to lie flat against the assembled ingredients without losing their colour. Lid the pot immediately. The pot must travel covered: the lid preserves temperature and reserves the steam for the tableside presentation moment.
6. 6
   At the table, the server holds the lid with both hands, tilts it slightly away from the guest, and raises it in a single, unhurried motion. The steam should flow toward the server, not the diner. The fragrant release — dashi, matsutake, yuzu from the condiment dishes nearby — is the sensory announcement of the dish's quality. The diner receives the composition; they do not cook.
7. 7
   Throughout the course, the server monitors the broth level. As ingredients are served and steam evaporates, the level will drop. Replenish from the reserved hot dashi kept at the pass, adding quietly and without interruption to the guest. Offer yuzu kosho and momiji-oroshi proactively.
8. 8
   When the principal components have been consumed, inform guests of the shime and confirm their preference — zosui (rice porridge), udon, or somen. Add the chosen starch to the remaining broth, which is now at its most concentrated, enriched by every ingredient that cooked within it. The shime broth should taste of the entire meal in a single bowl: this is its purpose and its measure.