Kinoko Nabe Hokkaido Mushroom Hot Pot Food

MUSHROOM HOT POT

Steps:

• Preheat a 4 quart pot over medium heat. Mix the cornstarch into the broth and set aside (this is easiest if you just mix it into about a cup of broth, then pour the rest of the broth in). Saute onion and pepper in the oil with a big pinch of salt, until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
• Add garlic, lemongrass, ginger and red pepper flakes and mix inches Cook until fragrant, about a minute, then stream in the broth/cornstarch mixture and add most of the other ingredients: star anise, cinnamon, shiitakes, soy sauce, tomatoes and fresh black pepper. Stir often for the first 10 minutes or so, until the cornstarch has thickened the broth a bit. Now cover pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to simmer and cook covered for a good half hour, until mushrooms are completely softened.
• Add coconut milk and lime, and taste for salt. Heat through and serve with fresh herbs and other accoutrement.

KINOKO NABE (HOKKAIDO MUSHROOM HOT POT)

Steps:

• Prepare the broth by combining the dashi, sake, mirin, and soy sauce in a bowl. Set aside.
• In a dutch oven, add the sesame oil and bring to high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, red chilies, yellow onion and pork. Stir fry for 1 minute.
• Add the cabbage and tofu to the dutch oven and pour in the broth. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes more.
• Uncover the hot pot and add the shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms, piling them randomly on top of the other ingredients. Cover the pot and simmer for 5 minutes more.
• Uncover the pot, add the spinach, and simmer for 1 minute more.
• Bring the nabe to the table and set it on a portable stove. Turn the stove heat as low as necessary to maintain a very gentle simmer.
• To serve, provide each person with a small dish and have them use chopsticks or a ladle to select their own vegetables, meat, tofu, etc. Garnish with shichimi togarashi.