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Kagoshima kurobuta shabu-shabu
黒豚しゃぶしゃぶ: paper-thin black pork swished through kombu broth, with ponzu and sesame sauce
Kagoshima, at the southern tip of Kyushu, is known across Japan for kurobuta, black Berkshire pork raised on farms in the prefecture. The meat is sweet with soft, clean-tasting fat, and shabu-shabu restaurants in Kagoshima city serve it sliced paper-thin so diners can cook it themselves at the table. Any thinly sliced pork loin or belly works well at home; Asian grocers sell it frozen for hot pots. Each slice is swished through the simmering kombu broth, then dipped in tangy ponzu or creamy sesame sauce. Chef's tip: when the meat is finished, cook a handful of rice or noodles in the leftover broth; it has taken on all the flavour of the pork and vegetables.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the pot
For the sesame sauce
For the ponzu dip
Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Put 6 ¼ cups water and ½ oz kombu (dried kelp) in a wide pot or donabe and leave to soak while you prepare the rest.
15 minStep 2: Arrange 1 ⅓ lb thinly sliced black pork or any pork loin and belly in overlapping slices on a large platter. Keep it chilled until you sit down, and use separate chopsticks or tongs for raw and cooked meat.
3 minStep 3: Arrange 10 ½ oz Chinese leaf (napa cabbage), 1 leek or Japanese long onion, 10 ½ oz silken or medium tofu, 6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, 3 ½ oz enoki mushrooms, 3 ½ oz mizuna or spinach and 1 carrot on a second platter.
5 minStep 4: Whisk 4 tbsp Japanese sesame paste or tahini, 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp rice vinegar and 3 tbsp warm water until smooth and pourable. Divide between small dipping bowls.
2 minStep 5: Divide ½ cup ponzu between more dipping bowls and set out 3 ½ oz daikon, 3 spring onions and 1 pinch shichimi togarashi (seven-spice chilli) for everyone to add.
2 minStep 6: Bring the pot slowly to a simmer over medium heat and lift out the kombu just before it boils. Set the pot on a table burner if you have one.
8 minStep 7: Add the harder vegetables, tofu and mushrooms first and let them simmer for a few minutes before the meat. Skim off any froth.
4 minStep 8: Each person picks up a slice of pork and swishes it through the gently simmering broth for 30 to 60 seconds, until no pink remains and the fat has turned white. Common mistake: keeping the pot at a rolling boil; thin pork seizes up and turns tough, so hold it at a gentle simmer.
1 minStep 9: Dip the cooked pork and vegetables in sesame sauce or ponzu and eat at once. Add more greens as you go and skim the broth now and then.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 37 g
- Carbs
- 17 g
- Fat
- 34 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kagoshima kurobuta shabu-shabu take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of leek or japanese long onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of fresh shiitake mushrooms?
- Aubergine, diced, same weight.
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