Beef for Beef,Beef for Shabu,Beef for hot pot,Beef for sukiyaki. Order now and get your fresh beef delivered in 1 hour! Can you ever have too much beef? You know, when you start eating it and never want to stop. I think not. From sukiyaki to shabu shabu and beyond, this post will show you how to make the ultimate beef experience.
This Is The Best Type Of Meat To Use In Shabu-Shabu
If you’re preparing shabu-shabu, the foods you choose are going to make or break the meal. Quick refresher โ shabu-shabu is a Japanese take on hot pot with a kombu (dried kelp) and dashi (Japanese soup stock) base, according to theย KitchenBaroness.ย While there are a variety of meats that youย can use (pork, chicken, or lamb) there’s just one that you’ll find at high-end Japanese restaurants: beef.ย
Granted, there are lots of different cuts of beef, so which one should you buy? Pogogi, the Japanese food informational site, explains that using marbled beef is always going to be the number one choice, though some restaurants may also include leaner cuts on their menus. KitchenBaroness recommends going for beef sirloin, buying enough so that there are at least 8.8 ounces (250 grams) per person. Of course, the better the quality of the meat, the better your shabu-shabu is going to be, so spring for the good beef if you can.
How should you prepare your meat?
How you prepare your meat is going to be just as important as which meat you get, if not more so.ย Japanese food and recipe blogย Just One Cookbook recommends first checking to see if there’s a good Japanese grocery store near you, as obviously they’ll have the best thinly sliced meat for shabu-shabu. If there isn’t one, you can check out this video, whereย Just One Cookbook’s Nami teaches you how to thinly slice meat yourself. You’ll want to freeze your meat until it’s firm, just soft enough to cut. Then, as long as you have a good, sharp knife, it won’t be too hard to get the really fine slices you need for shabu-shabu.ย
Once your beef is sliced paper thin (or as thin as you can manage โ it may take practice), lay it on a plate for serving. Set out your other ingredients: the broth, the vegetables, and any sauces or seasonings, and you’re ready to get cooking and eating.ย
Shabu Shabu Recipe (Video)ใใใถใใใถ
Shabu Shabu is a popular Japanese-style hot pot where the meat and assorted vegetables are cooked in a flavorful broth called kombu dashi. Everyone at the table takes part in the cooking and enjoys the ingredients with different dipping sauces. Itโs intimate yet casual, and a whole lot of fun!
Itโs the holiday season and itโs the time for friends and family to get together. Whatโs the best Japanese meal for this occasion? Itโs Shabu Shabu (ใใใถใใใถ)!
What is Shabu Shabu?
Shabu Shabu is one of Japanโs most popular hot pot dishes along withย Sukiyaki. The name โshabu shabuโ is Japanese onomatopoeia. It came from the sound when you stir the vegetables and meat with your chopsticks and โswish swishโ in the hot pot.ย Itโs a fun meal since everyone sits around the hot pot at the table, cooks together, and eats while you chat, like fondue! A communal dining experience that inspires good appetites and brings people closer together.
How to Prepare and Eat Shabu Shabu
The earthenware pot calledย donabeย (ๅ้) is set up on a portable gas stove in the center of the table. Inside is a simple yet umami-packed Japanese stock calledย Kombu Dashi.ย The uncooked ingredients are served on two large plates, one for thinly sliced well-marbled beef (or it can be pork), and the other one for vegetables and tofu.
Besides the platters of ingredients, each person is provided with dipping sauces. Typically, there are two types: sesame sauce and ponzu sauce.
MY OTHER RECIPES
Once everyone is seated, you would start cooking with tough vegetables and tofu, followed by softer vegetables. Paper-thin slices of meat take only a few seconds to cook. When you want to eat meat, you would pick up a slice with the communal chopsticks, and stir in the broth for a few seconds, and transfer to your own bowl of a dipping sauce.
You can dip cooked vegetables, tofu, and meat in either your sesame or ponzu sauce. I personally love meat in sesame sauce and vegetables and tofu in ponzu sauce.
You continue to cook while you eat. There is a set of communal chopsticks to cook ingredients and serve. While cooking, make sure to skim scum and foam on the surface so you can have a more refined taste.
Once all the ingredients are cooked and taken away from the hot pot, you cook udon noodles in the remaining broth and enjoy.
If you dine at a shabu shabu restaurant, the restaurant staff will get you started by cooking a few ingredients first. Donโt hesitate to ask if you are unsure how to go about it. If youโre at home cooking up the hot pot, I hope this post will guide you through everything you need to know to enjoy your first Shabu Shabu experience.
The Key Shabu Shabu Ingredients and Substitutes
1. Kombu dashi
There are many different types of dashi (broth) but for shabu shabu we use dashi made from kombu (kelp). It is vegetarian and really easy to make. You can just drop a piece of kombu in a pot of water and let the flavor comes through. Thatโs it!!
2. Vegetables + Mushrooms
The most commonly used vegetables for shabu shabu are: napa cabbage, shungiku (chrysanthemum greens or tong ho), long green onion (negi), and carrot. You can add other vegetables, like cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, and so on. But itโs worth making a trip to your nearest Asian grocery store for some harder-to-find ingredients like shungiku and long green onion. Chinese and Korean grocery stores usually carry vegetables. For napa cabbage, you may have luck finding them at major grocery stores like Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, etc.
Mushrooms that are often used in this recipe include shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and shimeji mushrooms. You can use other types of mushrooms, such as button mushrooms, mostly to enjoy the different textures.
3. Thinly sliced meat: beef/pork
The most noticeable difference of having shabu shabu outside of Japan is the quality of meat. It can be difficult to source the same quality meat without paying a high price in the US. Supermarkets in Japan offer great quality beef at a regular price. But we make it work!
Unless there is a well-stocked Japanese grocery store near you, you probably wonโt be able to find thinly sliced meat in your local grocery store. So you have to thinly slice the meat yourself.
Prepare Shabu Shabu in Donabe
Shabu Shabu is cooked in kombu dashi in aย donabeย (ๅ้), an earthenware pot, on a portal stove. If you donโt own one, you can use a Dutch oven or any large pot. Donabe and Dutch oven keep the contents warm for a long time, so itโs perfect for hot pot. If you own a donabe, this is a great chance to use it. But before you start, you need to season it.
Shabu Shabu โ A Quick, Easy, and Healthy Meal All Year Around
As a busy mom, I not only make the hot pot during the holidays but all year round. I love that I donโt have to do the cooking before dinner time. All I need to do is to prepare the ingredients and some simple chopping and let everyone cook dinner together at the table.
Since all the ingredients are cooked in broth, there is no oil used in the hot pot. Itโs a very low-fat meal, and a great way to eat a lot of vegetables. Happy swishing and enjoy shabu shabu all year around!
How to make Shabu Shabu everyone will love
Shabu Shabu is an easy, inexpensive and nutritious Japanese dish whereย beefย is the star of the show.
Long ago,ย as a homestay studentย living on a farm in Japan, my host parents used to take me to Shabu Shabu restaurants a lot. I loved the taste, but also how it brought everyone together around the table to cook.
It’s east to make Shabu Shabu at home (and everyone will love it), you just have to have the right ingredients and the right equipment. Everything you’ll need is linked from this post so you can prepare ahead of time.
SHOP: 100% Grass-fed, Grass-finished craft beef
No hormones, no unnecessary antibiotics. Dry-aged beef.
Shabu Shabu is an easy and fun dish to make at home using thin-sliced beef and a table-top burner.
Prep time: 15 to 30 minutes
Thin slicedย beefย cooked in a deliciousย brothย and dipped in a light soy and citrusย sauceย — that’s Shabu Shabu!
Thin-sliced Beef
It’s important to use high qualityย craft beefย (available onย Crowd Cow) and a cut that can be sliced thin.ย Rib steaks,ย top sirloinย andย sirloin tipย are excellent cuts for Shabu Shabu.
Gebbers Cattle Co, one of nearly 100 small producers in the USA hand-picked by Crowd Cow for their superior craft beef quality and high ethical standards for raising animals.
I recommend thisย Chef’s Choice meat slicerย to cut the beef into sheets of around 1/16th thickness. (You’ll love it forย making beef jerkyย too.)
Veggies
Head to almost any asian grocery store and pick up a fewย veggiesย you like. The classics for this dish include enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, nappa cabbage, bok choy, green onions and firm tofu.
The key is to thin-slice hard veggies like carrots, and to remove or trim any stems from cabbages. You can just use a knife for this, not the food slicer mentioned earlier.
Making the Broth
Shabu Shabu’s cooking broth is made with a special dried seaweed ingredient called “dashi kombu”.
Dashi kombu is a dried seaweed from Japan packed with umami goodness.
Fill your nabe cooking vessle halfway with lukewarm water, and add two sheets of dashi kombu. Let it soak for 20 to 30 minutes while you wash your veggies, slice the meat, etc.
When you’re ready to get cooking, add a tablespoon of cooking sake and bring the broth to a boil. Just before it boils, remove the kombu.
Finally, add a pinch ofย salt.
Dipping sauces
There are two popular sauces that each person around the table should have to dip their meat and veggies in.
One is a ponzu sauce (a tangy soy sauce made by mixing soy sauce, mirin and yuzu or other citrus juice, or you can justย buy some) and a sesame sauce
Cooking
Keep the broth at near boil and add the thicker veggies. Everyone then uses their chopsticks to dip a piece of thin-sliced beef into the broth to cook yb wiggling it around for 20 to 30 seconds. Once it’s cooked, dip it in one of the sauces and enjoy!
The nabe cooking pot I use isย this one), which is a very common design.
The tabletop gasย grillย I use is thisย Iwatani gas grillย and it usesย these gas canisters.
Note: never use portable gas burner indoors without sufficient ventilation, and read all warnings before attempting to use one at home.
Summary
Japanese Shabu Shabu a delicious and easy-to-make dish that’s fun to make and everyone will love. With just a little preparation, you’ll love this fun way to eat and cook together.