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1
Prepare the kombu dashi. Combine the kombu with cold water and allow to steep for a minimum of 30 minutes. Place over moderate heat. Remove the kombu just before the water reaches a boil — small bubbles will begin to rise from the base of the pot. Pour the dashi into the shabu-shabu pot and set over the table burner at a gentle simmer. The broth is ready when it trembles at the surface without breaking into a rolling boil.
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2
Construct the ponzu. Combine yuzu juice, lemon juice, soy sauce, and cold kombu-bonito dashi. Taste: yuzu brightness must be clear and forward; lemon must not dominate. Adjust citrus balance accordingly. Chill until service — ponzu served too cold dulls flavour perception, so bring to cool room temperature before placing on the table. The sauce is ready when the acid is sharp but not harsh and the soy rounds the finish.
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3
Construct the goma-dare. Whisk sesame paste with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and mirin until smooth and fluid. Stir in grated ginger and grated garlic. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon evenly; if too thick, thin with a small addition of dashi. It is ready when the sesame is creamy, the acid is perceptible, and no single element dominates.
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4
Prepare the momiji oroshi. Combine grated daikon with ichimi chili, stirring 1 tsp of chili through the daikon until the mixture blushes faintly red. Set alongside the ponzu as its condiment.
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5
Establish vegetable order at the table. Add tofu and fragile leaf vegetables to the simmering broth first, before the broth has absorbed fat or protein. Cook until the tofu is warmed through and the leaves are just wilted. Reserve mushrooms for later in the meal, when the broth has deepened. The vegetables are ready when the leaves are tender but retain their colour.
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6
Cook the A5 wagyu. This is where the dish lives or dies. Hold a single paper-thin slice by one edge and draw it through the simmering broth with a gentle swirling motion — shabu-shabu. Cook for 2 to 3 seconds only. The fat on the slice turns from opaque white to translucent; the edges show the faintest pink colour while the centre remains fully raw. Remove immediately. Pair with ponzu, not goma-dare: the acid of ponzu balances the excessive richness of A5 fat. Sesame sauce compounds fat on fat and is reserved for standard beef or pork.
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7
Between meat courses, taste the broth directly. Good A5 wagyu will have enriched the kombu dashi significantly — fat and protein accumulate with each piece. The broth is performing correctly when it has developed body and a pronounced savour absent at the start of the meal.
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8
Add mushrooms to the enriched broth in the final vegetable stage. Cook shiitake until the caps are tender and have absorbed the fortified broth; cook enoki and maitake briefly until just softened. The mushrooms are ready when they yield without resistance and carry the full depth of the accumulated broth.
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9
Finish with zosui shime. Add rinsed cooked rice to the remaining enriched meat broth and simmer gently until the rice has absorbed the liquid and the mixture has the consistency of a loose porridge. Swirl in the beaten egg off the heat and cover for 30 seconds until the egg sets in ribbons. The zosui is ready when the egg is just set and the rice has taken on the full flavour of the meal's accumulated broth.