Nabemono
Nabemono (鍋物, なべ物, nabe "cooking pot" + mono "thing"), or simply nabe, is a variety of Japanese hot pot dishes, also known as one pot dishes and "things in a pot". Description Nabemono are stews and soups containing many types of ingredients that are served while still boiling. Because of that, Nabe is typically enjoyed in cold days or the winter. In modern Japan, nabemono are kept hot at the dining table by portable stoves. The dish is frequently cooked at the table, and the diners can pick the cooked ingredients they want from the pot. It is either eaten with the broth or with a dip. Further ingredients can also be successively added to the pot. There are two types of nabemono in Japan: lightly flavored stock (mostly with kombu) types such as yudōfu (湯豆腐) and mizutaki (水炊き), eaten with a dipping sauce (tare) to enjoy the taste of the ingredients themselves; and strongly flavored stock, typically with miso, soy sauce, dashi, and/or sweet soy types such as yosenabe (寄鍋), oden (おでん), and sukiyaki (すき焼き), eaten without further flavoring. The pots are traditionally made of clay (土鍋, donabe) or thick cast iron (鉄鍋, tetsunabe). Clay pots can keep warm for a while after being taken off the fire, while cast iron pots evenly distribute heat and are preferable for sukiyaki. Pots are usually placed in the center of dining tables and are shared by multiple people. This is considered the most sociable way to eat with friends and family. Varieties Chankonabe (ちゃんこ鍋): was originally served only to Sumo wrestlers. Chankonabe is served with more ingredients than other nabemono, as it was developed to help sumo wrestlers gain weight. Many recipes exist but usually contain meatballs, chicken, vegetables such as Napa cabbage and udon. Motsunabe (もつ鍋): made with beef or pork offal, originally a local cuisine of Fukuoka but popularised nationwide in the 1990s because of its taste and reasonable price. The ingredients of motsunabe vary from restaurant to restaurant, but it is typical to boil the fresh cow offal with cabbage and garlic chives. After having offal and vegetables, the rest of soup is used to cook champon noodles. The soup bases are mainly soy sauce or miso. Oden: several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. Karashi (Japanese mustard) is often used as a condiment. Shabu-shabu: thinly sliced meat and vegetables that are boiled in a pot at the dining table and eaten with a dipping sauce. Sukiyaki: thinly sliced beef, tofu, vegetables and starch noodles stewed in sweetened shouyu and eaten with a raw egg dip. Yosenabe: Yose (寄) means "putting together", implying that all things (e.g., meat, seafood, egg, tofu and vegetables) are cooked together in a pot. Yosenabe is typically based on a broth made with miso or soy sauce flavourings. Yudofu: tofu simmered in a kombu stock and served with ponzu and various condiments. Regional variations There are wide varieties of regional nabemono in