Hot Pot!

Just a quick one before bed. I made a poor man's nabe for dinner tonight. Nabe is a Japanese hot pot dish that is often eaten in the cold winter months, and that i've never tried to make before. I don't know why, as hot pot is one of my favorite things to eat.

You can buy pre-made broth for your hotpot at virtually any supermarket in Japan -- at least during the winter months. They're not that expensive, but I'm putting myself on a budget this month, so i thought i'd try to make my own. This is what i did:

In a bowl, i chopped up carrot, daikon, cabbage, spinach, and negi -- basically whatever vegetables i had sitting in the fridge.

Then, i boiled some water with some dashi in it. I added just enough soy sauce, mirin, sake, and some of this kimchi flavoured hot sauce that i've had in my fridge for a while.

I threw the vegetables into the boiling broth, added some tofu, and i splurged for some sliced pork as well (i was pretty hungry on this cold winter evening). Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes or so, and it was ready to eat.

After eating all of the solid foods, i added some udon noodles and re-boiled the broth. Then i ate the udon noodles.

I think that without the pork, the dish probably cost me about 200-250 yen. With the pork, it was an extra 200 yen. It was a good meal. Sorry, i was too hungry to take any photos.