Have you ever heard “nabe”(鍋) or “donabe”(土鍋)?

Nabe or donabe is  a pot in Japanese but Donabe doesn’t mean a stainless pot but a clay pot like this.

We often use this and the dishes cooked with this is also called “nabe”, and is popular in winter. I’d like to show you examples of nabe dishes that I made.

This is a typical Japanese nabe dish in winter that has napa cabbage, cibolspork, garland chrysanthemum leaves and shiitakes in it.

This is called “Nabeyakiudon”. “Yaki” is grilled and “Udon” is thick noodles made from rice. It has Japanese radishes, carrots, spinach, udon noodles, eggs and kamaboko which is fish minced and steamed. How to cook nabeyakiudon is quite simple. Boil soup and put root vegetables in first. Add other stuffs in the nabe and once it steams up again, then it’s ready.

I cooked and ate it with my friends and had a great time, because it warmed our bodies and hearts! Nabe is not a dish to eat alone but a dish to gather friends or family to eat together.

Why don’t you hold a nabe party to enjoy the hot and delicious nabe dishes with everyone in this winter?

 

 

Have you ever heard of one soup and three dishes(一汁三菜)?

It’s an idea that Japanese people have traditionally tried to eat healthy every day and literally consisted of one soup and three kinds of dishes that are one main dish and two side dishes, and pickles are added to it to refresh the mouth during the meal.

Staple food: cooked rice

Soup: miso soup, clear soup

Main dish: raw fish, grilled dishes, fried dishes, simmered dishes, steamed dishes (meat or fish)

Side dish 1: simmered dishes, steamed dishes, tossed dishes (vegetables, potatoes, mushrooms, tofu, beans, etc.)

Side dish 2: tossed dishes (raw fish and vegetables seasoned in vinegar, vegetables, seaweed, fruits, etc.)

 

 

The reason why this concept is healthy is that you can have a well-balanced diet if you embrace it, drinking fluids from soup, eating carbohydrates from staple food, which is rice, protein from main dish and other nutrition like vitamin or mineral from two side dishes. Also, using a lot of foods to make this one soup and three dishes meal, you will create a nutritious and balanced diet naturally.

Listed as a UNESCO intangible world heritage site, Japanese food (washoku) is drawing global attention for its nutritional balance and its role in Japanese custom, history and culture.

If you’re intrigued by this style of cuisine, please try and enjoy it!