How to Make SHABU SHABU (Japanese Hot Pot) with The Sushi Man

What's up everyone, Jun with The Sushi Man, and in this video, I'm going to teach you how to make one of my all-time favorite winter dishes, and that is shabu-shabu. For those that aren't familiar, shabu-shabu is a Japanese hot pot where thinly sliced meat and a variety of vegetables are cooked in a light and clean broth, and then served with some dipping sauces. It's comforting, extremely healthy, and super simple to make. Now without further ado, let's get right into it. But first, I just want to give a quick thanks to you. Whether you're new or returning to my channel, thank you for being here. Now I want to ask you for a simple favor. If you're enjoying my content and you're finding it helpful, then please consider hitting that subscribe button. It really does make a difference, and it allows me to continue making more creative and better content. So again, I really appreciate you all being here. Now back to our video. Alright, let's go over our ingredients. Now it may look like a lot, but shabu-shabu is easily customizable, and you can swap out any of these ingredients to your liking. What I use is pretty traditional, but again, you don't have to have all of these things to enjoy shabu-shabu. So first, I have some dried kombu, which we'll use for our dashi broth. Next, the meat. I like to use thin sliced pork belly most of the time, but thin sliced beef is good as well. Most Asian markets will sell something similar to this, but you can also ask your local butcher to slice some for you. If you can, try to find ribeye or chuck meat that has some good marbling. I couldn't really find any at my local Asian market this time, so I got some thin sliced short rib instead. And then we have some tofu. I personally like to use either soft or medium, but you can use firm or any other type that you prefer. Okay, next we have our veggies. Some napa cabbage, spinach, green onions, enoki mushrooms, and shimeji mushrooms. And then some rice and udon noodles if you'd like. These come frozen and only takes like a minute to cook, which is super convenient. You should be able to find these at most Asian markets. Now lastly, for the dipping sauces, we're going to need some ponzu, which is a Japanese sesame sauce, and then some daikon radish that we'll be grating. Now again, you don't need all of this. Obviously you're going to want at least one type of meat, and some other vegetables, and then probably a sauce to go with it. But you can pick and choose what you like, or add in other items like carrots, fish cake, bean sprouts, it's really up to you. Alright, now let's move on to our prep. First thing you want to do if you're planning on eating some is cook the rice. I always like to have some with shabu-shabu, but I know a lot of people that prefer adding noodles in there instead, which we're going to do as well, but more on that later. Next, let's prep our dashi broth. And all we're going to do right now is fill our pot with water and leave the kombu in there to soak. And I like to use a donabe, which is this Japanese clay pot. It's great for hot pot dishes because it retains the heat really well, and helps cook the ingredients evenly. But don't worry, you can use a regular pot as well. Okay, now let's start cutting our vegetables. First, the napa cabbage, and I've already washed these. Now all we're basically doing is cutting it down into bite-sized pieces. However, the core is a lot thicker and tougher than the outer leaf part, so I'm going to divide it and cut it separately. So now let's take the leaf part, and all we're going to do is just cut this into about 2 inch squares, roughly. Now we take this core part and we're going to cut it thinner into about half inch wide pieces. Alright, now our green onions. And we're just going to cut this into about half inch thick by about 2 inches long. And we want to keep the white parts separate from the green parts. Okay, moving on to our mushrooms. And basically we're going to do the same for both. Rinse them, cut off the stems, and then gently divide them into smaller portions. And for the spinach, it's super easy. All we have to do is wash them, which I've already done. Okay, last vegetable we need to prep is the daikon, which we're going to use with our dipping sauce. And we're just going to grate this, which is called daikon oroshi in Japanese. Now we want to gently pour out the excess juice, but be sure not to squeeze it too hard or else it'll get too dry. We want to keep some of that moisture in there. Alright, now all we have left is the tofu, which we're going to cut down into about an inch by 2 inch rectangles. And that is it with our prep. Super easy, right? Now let's get started on our cooking. Okay, first let's set our And then we're going to wait for this to almost start boiling. Once it's about to boil, we're going to take out the kombu. Now we're going to add in the vegetables and tofu. Everything except the green parts of the green onion. Okay, now let's cover this. And then we're going to let it cook for about 10 minutes or so over medium heat. And while we wait for that, let's get everything else ready. Alright, it's been about 10 minutes now, so let's open this up. Oh yeah. Now we're going to add in the rest of the green onion. And now we're ready to start eating. So the name shabu shabu comes from the sound effect of swishing the meat in the broth. So it kind of translates to swish swish. And that's how you eat this. But first, I'm going to add some daikon oroshi into my ponzu. Okay, now we grab a slice of meat. And we're going to dunk it into the broth. And then you swish it around for about 15 to 20 seconds or so, or until your doneness. Alright, now I'm going to dip this into my ponzu sauce. And look at that. Itadakimasu. Oh yeah. So clean and so good. Now let's try the gomadare. Oh, so good. I love having the two different sauces so you can have variety and switch it with different ingredients. Alright, let's try the beef now. Man, that's so good. Now as you're cooking the meat, there's going to be some of the scum that builds up at the top, which you want to scoop out with a fine sieve or a small ladle. Time for some rice. And finally, after everything is gone, we add in our udon to finish off our meal. This is part of Japanese food culture called shime, which means to close or conclude. The term is commonly used to describe the final dish eaten at the end of a meal, especially after a night of drinking. It's usually some sort of carb like noodles or rice, especially with nabe dishes like this. And let me tell you, it's a great way to minimize hangovers and much healthier than that late night taco bell run. Though I've been plenty guilty of that as well. Now of course, you don't have to wait to the very end to add in the udon. You can add it in the beginning if you want. But now that the broth has soaked up all the flavors from the meat and vegetables, it makes this soup so good and comforting. You can use a new bowl or add it into your ponzu sauce or goma dare, whichever one. I like to dilute it a little bit by adding the soup into the ponzu sauce. It warms up the soul every time. All right, ladies and gentlemen, that is how you make and eat traditional shabu shabu. Trust me, once you try this, you will be hooked. Which is not a bad thing. It's so easy to make, plus it's healthy. Like extremely healthy. You'll see why this is one of my all-time favorite winter foods. All right, that's about it from me. But before I let you go, I have a quick question for you. I've been planning to create an online course on the fundamentals of sushi making. Basically teaching you everything you need to know about the art of sushi, so that you can become a professional sushi chef. So whether you're thinking about changing professions, want a promotion at work, or just want to be a badass sushi making machine at home, this course will guide you through it all. If that's something that excites you, or you would be interested in, do me a quick favor and just type in the comments yes, or I would be interested. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. All right, that's it from me. Hope you enjoyed the video, and as always, feel free to leave me any questions or comments below. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you on the next one. Arigatou gozaimasu!