Oyster and mushroom hot pot (kaki nabe)

Easy to make but full of flavour.

Oyster and mushroom hot pot (kaki nabe) Credit: Brett Stevens

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 90 g kuzukiri (dried potato starch) noodles (see Note)
• 1 dozen oysters, removed from shells, cleaned of any debris in salted water
• 4 shiitake mushrooms, stalks removed, stars carved into the caps (optional)
• 400 g mixed mushrooms (mixture of enoki, shimeji and oyster)
• 5 Chinese cabbage (wombok) leaves
• ½ bunch chrysanthemum leaves (see Note), stems trimmed (optional)
• 1 large carrot, thickly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 small leek, white part only, cut into 2 cm pieces on the diagonal
• 150 g firm tofu, cut into 4 pieces
• 1.6 litres dashi broth (see Note)
• 60 ml (¼ cup) cooking sake (see Note)
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce, plus extra, to serve
• steamed short-grain rice, to serve

Instructions

Soak noodles in hot water for 8 minutes or according to packet directions. Drain. Arrange oysters, vegetables, tofu and noodles in a nabe dish (see Note) or round, flameproof casserole.

Combine dashi, sake, mirin, soy and ½ tsp salt in a nabe dish over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serve with rice.

Note

• Kuzukiri noodles, available from Japanese food shops, are made from the root of the kudzu plant. Substitute cellophane noodles.

• Chrysanthemum leaves, available from Asian food shops, lend a slightly perfumed flavour to the dish. Substitute Asian greens.

• To make dashi broth, dissolve 10 g dashi granules in 1.6 litres water.

• Cooking sake is from Japanese food shops.

• Nabe (clay or cast-iron hot pot) dishes are available from Japanese or Asian food shops.

As seen in Feast magazine, Issue 8, pg86.

Photography by Brett Stevens

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.