In the past years, there are so many unique "untraditional" style hot pot dishes which have become popular in Japan. Tomato Nabe, or donabe hot pot with tomato broth, is one of them.
I made my own version and it was phenomenal! I contemplated the recipe in my head for a while (I was also thinking whether I wanted to do it the "western" style or Asian style) and decided to do an eclectic Asian-style.
I sauteed the onion, garlic, and ginger in the donabe first. They were pureed with a can of diced tomatoes (with the juice) until very smooth. The puree was combined with the Chinese-style chicken stock, and seasoned with mirin, soy sauce, nam pla, black vinegar, etc. The aroma was excellent.
Here are the ingredients to cook in the broth. Gindara (black cod), shabu shabu kurobuta pork, tofu, mushrooms, etc.
Everything was cooked on the table top, a small amount at a time. The broth tasted really gorgeous, and really enhanced the flavors of all the ingredients so nicely. I must say, bravo. My homemade chunky la-yu made a nice condiment for the dish.
The "shime" (end of the meal) course was Chinese noodles. We cooked the noodles and bean sprouts in the remaining broth, and served with the la-yu again. It was really really wonderful.
I posted the recipe on toiro's website. Hope you will try it, too!
Happy donabe life.
