Japanese Style Hot Pot
A hearty steamy hotpot can make a winter night 10 times better and more perfectly, it works for single person to a group gathering. The versatility and ability to be customised, make it perfect for people with different taste preference eating together.
The essence of hotpot is the stock base, and this Japanese style base only require 2-3 core ingredients:
Bonito flakes (Katsuobushi) is made from dried, smoked, fermented skipjack tuna. It is one of the few key ingredients used in current Japanese cuisine providing an earthy, seafood and savoury flavour profile. It is widely available in Japanese/Asian grocers including Daiso.
Mirin is a sweeter rice wine than sake, also contains less alcohol content (which will be evaporated during cooking). It builds the depth and add the signature Japanese sweetness to the base.
Soy Sauce is no doubt another signature ingredient. Soy sauce contains high amount of sodium/salt, so we recommend using reduced salt/sodium soy sauce to reduce risk of developing high blood pressure. For people requires a No Added Salt diet, simply eliminating this ingredient and use a personal herb/spice base dipping.
How this hotpot recipe is perfect to meet your nutrition and health goals:
You can adjust the proportion: Enjoy your hotpot with a balanced proportion between veggies, protein and carbs - you can follow a 2:1:1 ratio for general health purpose.
Intuitive: It is simple to prepare and perfect for intuitive eating - stop cooking and eating according to your hunger fullness cues without creating leftover.
Quick and easy: The meal is ready to go in under 20 minutes, all you need is having foods in your household. It can even be meal-prepped - pre cut all vegetables, so you have a self-serve hotpot bar at home.
Versatile and customisable: It is so customisable even picky eaters would love it. To maximise nourishment, we recommend prioritise filling your pot with mostly wholefoods and fresh produce.
Japanese Style Hot Pot
Serves: 2
Time: 20 minutes preparation
Skill required: chopping and boiling
Equipment: chopping board, knife, serving utensils for ingredients, deep pan/saucepan
Ingredient list
Stock:
2L water
5g bonito flake
2tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1tbsp mirin
Other ingredients:
1 spring onion (sectioned)
300g vegetables (sectioned)
120g mixed mushrooms
200g tofu (thickly sliced)
100g salmon (optional)
Your choice of starch (rice, noodles, etc)1 spring onion (sectioned)
Methods
In a saucepan, add all stock ingredients., bring it to boil and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Pass the stock through a fine sieve to drain out the bonito flakes (optional).
In a deep pan or the same saucepan, put spring onion at the bottom and add some of each ingredients into the pan/saucepan and pour enough stock to submerge most of the ingredients.
Bring the water to boil, and enjoy as food cooks.
Add in more food as you go, and make sure the water reboils before digging in again.
*For salmon, put the fillet in and let it simmer - 5-6 minutes for medium and 8-10 minutes for well-done.
Dietitian’s Tips
Scale up/down: adjust stock portion based on simmering pot's size, and scale up/down other ingredients based on number of people.
Customise: choose your own combination of vegetables, protein and carbs.
Reduce sodium: To further reduce sodium level, eliminate or reduce the amount of soy sauce and optionally using spices such as chilli or Japanese 7 spices as a dipping to enhance flavours.
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