Japanese Hot Pots: Comforting One-Pot Meals

by Tadashi Ono, Harris Salat

Wholesome, delicious Japanese comfort food, hot pot cooking satisfies the universal desire for steaming, gratifying and hearty meals the whole family can enjoy. In Japanese Hot Pots, chef Tadashi Ono and food journalist Harris Salat demystify this communal eating tradition for American home cooks with belly-warming dishes from all corners of Japan. Using savory broths and healthy, easy-to-find ingredients such as seafood, poultry, greens, roots, mushrooms, and noodles, these classic one-pot dishes require minimal fuss and preparation, and no special equipment—they're simple, fast recipes to whip up either on the stove or on a tableside portable burner, like they do in Japan.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Japan, Reference, Travel

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 2009

Reviews

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear explanations and phenomenal pictures. Really a gorgeous cookbook.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great introduction to Japanese cuisine!

Great book for a variety of Japanese hotpots! I like how the author described various uses of the ingredients, and I appreciated the descriptions on how to prep certain ingredients.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

お腹においしい // the lamb recipe is tasteless, though the accompanying sauce is ~~Sugoi~~ A scoop of peanut butter inside the sauce makes it extra ~~Oishii~~ The secret to making an excellent nabe (hot pot) is to ignore precision and instead dump heaps of kombu, miso paste, chicken stock, and bonito sauce into the earthenware. You can then dilute with water to taste. While the flavor is developing over a simmer, toss in the different ingredients which help enrich the broth with their essence. This no-fail method is an excellent way to achieve ほっぺが落ちる.

[Kate]

Made the sukiyaki! It was good!

Some of this stuff seemed hard to make so I probably won't, but good to know the variety of stuff that can be made in a hot pot.

[Evil Secret Ninja · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing recipes probably won't like everything but excited to try some new things.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even reading this book during the colder months is cozy! And I’ve loved the recipes I’ve tried.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is what the cover promises: a collection of Japanese hot pot recipes. The ones I've tried were east to prepare, conveniently dirtied few dishes, and tasted fantastic. I also got to break out the dutch oven which made me happy (dutch ovens are recommended as second to the Japanese donabe, but the book states a regular stainless steel pot should also work). The photography is both beautiful and helpful in visualizing the end product.

But while the food itself is easy to put together and fast-cooking (half an hour, give or take), finding all the ingredients is not. I thought I already had a pantry prepared to handle the book -- miso, konbu, dried shiitakes, etc. -- but there were a lot of specialty ingredients that I'd never cooked with before. On one hand, I like being introduced to new ingredients. On the other, they've been hard to find. There's a resource section in the back of the book, but the nearest market listed is several hours' drive away for me.

I found a recipe I could cook to the letter. Fantastic! The next recipe, I substituted abundantly, and it still turned out great (the book has some recommended substitutions for some ingredients, as well).

So this book would be great for someone who:

*Lives in an area with a market that supplies a wide array of fresh and shelf-stable Japanese ingredients.

*Is happy ordering specialty ingredients from on-line, and substituting fresh ingredients as necessary.

*Likes to use recipes as suggestions and ideas, and doesn't mind improvising with what's available.

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a sad fact of life that "comfort food" doesn't always translate between cultures. After making the first recipe in this book, I found out my significant other dislikes anything made with dashi, the fish-and-kelp stock that forms the base for many traditional Japanese dishes (as well as a few other complaints). So, visions of quick and easy nabe nights were dashed for me. The book itself is a well-written and colorful introduction to down-home Japanese cooking. The type of cuisine is quite flexible, but the authors could have more of an effort to offer suggestion based on American cooks' comfort zones.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully photographed images of the ingredients and finished hot pots. I would definitely have to buy a donburi (Japanese clay cooking pot) before I could even begin to attempt making some of these dishes. I personally wouldn't make most of the recipes as they included innards or funky parts of chicken/pork/fish, but I liked the look of the vegetarian ones at least and some of the beef. Very interesting to learn about the history and details that go into making a Japanese Hot Pot and all the different variations.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures, helpful descriptions of ingredients - the mushroom hot pot was so easy to make! Looking forward to trying more of the vegetarian (or mostly - I used tuna for the broth, but there are instructions for mushroom stock) dishes. I wish there was a good Asian grocery store closer, but it is a good excuse to make a trip to the International District.

[Sayaka Nasu · Rating 5 out of 5]

after moving away from home, my mom's japanese cooking was one of the things i missed the most. this cook book is pretty easy and my family enjoys the hot pots. i live in central michigan and asian markets are an hour or two away so i need to alternate some vegetables or exclude certain things but it still tastes great. you can't mess up.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipes (I haven't had a chance to try but they look good).

It has some lovely pictures, but the actual instructions on how to make each hot pot could have been written better instead of just paragraphs of text that are a bit on the small side.

Good book overall.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome! I made the anything goes hot pot last night and it was a huge hit. I love the fact that there are large pictures of almost every recipe, and the ingredient break downs in the beginning of the book are really interesting. This is definitely going to be my winter staple.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cookbook made Japanese food seem less daunting. I always thought that making dashi was a complicated process, but this made it seem simple. Can't wait until the weather cools down to try some of these!

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

haven't seen this one yet either but another one I shot.

[Ian]

The photographer for the book made everything look delicious. I'd like to try a recipe from it.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Ingrid teased me for sitting down and reading this book for an hour. I have made several of these soups, and they are fantastic! I want to make them ALL!

[Carly]

http://www.goodreads.com/images/close...

[Joshua]

Nice modern cookbook...great recipes and instructions. Looking forward to making many of these for Friday night "happy hour dinners", Wednesday-night Coleman lectures, etc. Economical and fast.

[Png · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully photographs. Plentiful unique hot pot recipes if your typical soup base is chicken broth. Soymilk Hot Pot is interesting.

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ... meh. I don't remember Why I wanted to read it, and put it on my holds list from the library .. but there were some good recipes.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise information about ingredients and beautiful recipes. I look forward to making many of these meals.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes me miss my Nabe pot and how easy the ingredients would be to find in Japan.

[Sporks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic recipes. Most made twice as many servings for us as listed.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic intro to hot pots- gave me lots of ideas.