Recipe: Shabu-Shabu at Home

If you have a Peking pot, or a simple electric multi-cooker on hand, you can enjoy a Shabu-Shabu meal at the comforts of your own home.

I got mine at my favorite store at eBay here (Store search for "shabu sbabu"). It's really made for shabu-shabu and sukiyaki. I have the mini type model (P1,500.00) which holds about a liter of stock or good for 2-3 persons. Perfect for me because I have 2 kids who absolutely loves shabu-shabu. It also has a shallow Teflon coated sukiyaki pot and a steamer rack.

Foodiots in the making.

For those who are not familiar with the term, (gasp! no its not methamphetamine!) shabu-shabu was named after the sound it makes when the meat is swished back and forth in the stock when cooked. This dish belongs to the nabemono (one pot cooking) in Japanese and its is believed that this method of cooking originated from China. It was called "Peking Pot". The Chinese then introduced this method of cooking to the Muslim and Mongol traders. The pot is usually placed in the center of the table where raw food such as meat, vegetables, seafood or noodles are served alongside. The guests pick their choice of food and carefully cook it in the simmering stock inside the pot using chopsticks or other utensils. It has been this way since it creates a warm atmosphere for the family during mealtimes especially during winter.

But before you bring out the pot, we need to make the basic stock. I use:

• 1kg of pork bones
• 3 liters of clean water
• 3 tbsp. Knorr Chicken Powder (not the cubes. I find the powder less commercial taste. And no yellow color.)

Boil the pork bones with the chicken powder until the bits of meat falls off. Remove the bones and strain the stock in a cheese cloth or coffee filter to get a clear stock. Strain again if necessary. If you like to skim off the extra fat on top, you may cool the stock a bit in the fridge and discard the hardened oil on the surface. Don't worry if the stock reduces. You can add more liquid later when you need it for shabu-shabu cooking. I separate this into 3 plastic containers and freeze them. It will store about a month in the freezer. Each container of concentrated stock will yield about a liter when you add liquid to it for use. Like I said earlier 1kg of bones makes 3 liters of stock.

Now for the rest of the ingredients. We will need:

• 1 liter soup stock, heated

• 100g -150g of beef sukiyaki cut (you can ask your butcher to cut it as thin as they can get)

• 50g-100g of pork sukiyaki cut

• 1 Corn on cob cut into fours

• 2-3 pechay leaves and nappa cabbage

• 5-8 fish balls ( the imported ones that "bounces" and doesn't turn mushy when cooked in broth. Dodo is a good brand.)

• 2-3 shiitake mushrooms and or

• A handful button mushrooms ( I love mushrooms I usually have more than a handful of these)

• A small thin slices of raw white taro root (whote Gabi, Optional)

• Crab sticks (Optional)

• One block tofu cubed

• Sotanghon, soaked until soft and drained.

• Flat egg noodles, Pre cooked (optional)

• One egg

Ponzu dipping sauce:

• 5 tablespoons soy sauce and
• 4 tablespoons ponzu vinegar or lemon/ calamansi juice in a small bowl.

Additional condiments can be grated radish or daikon oroshi, chopped chives or green onion, some chili flakes and sesame seeds and oil.

HOW TO EAT:
Heat the stock in the Shabu-Shabu pot. Lower temperature to a simmer. If you have vegetable that takes longer to cook like the corn, taro root or gabi. You may drop it in the stock first. Then use chopsticks to pick the meat and swish it in the simmering stock until cooked and no longer pink. Dip meat in dipping sauce and eat. Or in our case, since we love to eat it with rice, you may top it on rice and make some more. After all the meats are cooked. You may add the rest of the ingredients to the stock according to how long it takes to cook them. While its slowly simmering, take out whatever it's cooked, then dip and eat. You can also serve the soup along the way.

Traditionally, the noodles, rice cakes or cooked rice are served as second course, cooking with the same stock with the egg drop as finale. But then we Pinoys love to eat everything at once.

Douzo meshiagare!