Shabu-Shabu Dashi Preparation and Hot Pot Protocol

Ingredients

• For the konbu dashi
• 20 g dried konbu, wiped clean with a damp cloth
• 1.5 litres cold water
• For the hot pot
• 600 g wagyu beef, shabu-shabu cut, paper-thin (1–2 mm), fat evenly distributed throughout
• 200 g firm tofu, cut into cubes
• 150 g daikon, peeled and sliced into rounds
• 100 g carrot, peeled and sliced on the bias
• 100 g chrysanthemum leaf (shungiku), washed, trimmed
• For the ponzu dipping sauce
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 60 ml citrus juice (yuzu or sudachi), freshly squeezed
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 5 g grated daikon, served as table condiment alongside ponzu
• 5 g nira (garlic chives), finely sliced; served as table condiment alongside ponzu
• For the goma-dare (sesame dipping sauce)
• 60 g white sesame paste (nerigoma)
• 30 ml dashi, from the konbu base
• 30 ml soy sauce
• 15 ml mirin
• 10 ml rice vinegar, adjust to cut richness
• 1 tsp sugar
• For the zosui finale
• 300 g cooked short-grain rice, cold; added to enriched broth at the meal's end
• 2 eggs, cracked in just before serving

Method

1. 1
   Place the konbu in 1.5 litres of cold water and soak for a minimum of 30 minutes. Set the vessel over low heat and raise the temperature gradually to 60 °C. Hold at 60 °C for 10 minutes, then remove the konbu before the water reaches a boil. The dashi is ready when it is pale gold, faintly saline, and carries a clean oceanic aroma with no bitterness.
2. 2
   Whisk the sesame paste with the measured dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and rice vinegar until smooth and uniformly combined. Taste and adjust rice vinegar to temper the richness. The sauce should coat a spoon lightly — neither thin nor stiff — and carry a balanced nutty, gently acidic finish. Combine the soy sauce, citrus juice, and mirin for the ponzu. Set both sauces in individual bowls at each place. Place grated daikon and sliced nira alongside the ponzu as table condiments. The two sauces are kept strictly separate throughout the meal.
3. 3
   Transfer the finished konbu dashi to the table-top pot and bring it to a gentle simmer over the heat source. Introduce the firmer vegetables — daikon rounds, carrot slices, tofu — at the perimeter of the pot, where heat is less intense. These items require several minutes. The broth must remain at a visible but quiet simmer throughout: small, lazy bubbles only. A vigorous boil toughens even briefly cooked meat proteins and is not recoverable.
4. 4
   This is where the dish lives or dies. Each diner takes a slice of wagyu, submerges it in the simmering broth, and swishes it gently for 3 to 5 seconds only — no more. The meat is done the instant its surface loses its raw red colour and the fat begins to translate from white to faintly translucent at the edges. Remove immediately. Any further contact with heat is an error: the intramuscular fat of well-marbled wagyu continues to melt from residual heat after removal, and its texture exists only in this narrow window.
5. 5
   As the meal continues, add chrysanthemum leaf and any remaining delicate items to the broth in the final minutes of the vegetable course — they require only 30 to 60 seconds and wilt immediately upon contact. The broth will deepen visibly in colour and grow richer in aroma as it absorbs proteins and rendered fat from successive cookings. This enrichment is the intended arc of the dish.
6. 6
   At the meal's conclusion, add the cold cooked rice directly to the accumulated, enriched broth remaining in the pot. Stir gently and bring back to a simmer. Crack the eggs over the surface, cover briefly, and remove from heat when the eggs are just set and the rice has absorbed the broth to a loose, porridge consistency. This zosui concentrates all flavours accumulated through the meal and is seasoned lightly, if at all — the broth will have taken on sufficient salt and depth.