WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Shabu-shabu is a Japanese hot-pot dish in which beef, vegetables, and tofu are simmered in broth and served with chewy udon noodles and dipping sauces. We wanted to develop a version without the meat (or the hot pot). Since the traditional dashi broth is made from glutamate-rich kombu seaweed and bonito (tuna) flakes, we needed to find a way to replicate the bonito’s fishy flavor. After a good deal of trial and error, we found that adding a second variety of seaweed (wakame), plenty of fish sauce, rice wine, and sugar replicated the depth of the bonito. Shabu-shabu typically includes carrots, napa cabbage or bok choy, enoki or shiitake mushrooms, tofu, and chrysanthemum leaves. Luckily, the hard-to-find chrysanthemum leaves were not missed when omitted. We preferred bok choy to cabbage and the fuller flavor of shiitake mushrooms to enoki. A dollop of a sesame sauce made with mayonnaise, miso, garlic, and lemon juice was the perfect garnish. We prefer the flavor of red miso here, but white miso can be substituted; do not substitute “light” miso, as its flavor is too mild.
SERVES: 6 to 8
TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
SESAME SAUCE
- ¼ cup sesame seeds, toasted
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon red miso
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon water
SOUP
- 8 ounces dried udon noodles
- Salt
- 9 cups water
- ½ ounce kombu
- 6 tablespoons (½ ounce) wakame
- ½ cup mirin
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- 1½ teaspoons sugar
- 3 heads baby bok choy (4 ounces each), sliced ⅛ inch thick
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced ⅛ inch thick
- 14 ounces soft tofu, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin
INSTRUCTIONS:
- For the sesame sauce, stir all ingredients in a bowl until well-combined.
- For the soup, bring 2 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Add noodles and 1½ teaspoons salt and cook, stirring often, until tender; drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, bring water, kombu, and wakame to a brief boil in a large pot over medium heat. Remove from heat and discard seaweed.
- Stir in mirin, fish sauce, and sugar and bring to simmer over medium heat. Stir in bok choy and carrots and simmer until crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Stir in tofu, mushrooms, and cooked noodles and cook until warmed through, about 1 minute.
- Serve with sesame sauce
