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Kaisen Nabe (Seafood Hot Pot)

Best served on a cold night with your favorite friends, kaisen nabe (“seafood hot pot” in Japanese) is an interactive, cook-it-yourself experience. With a little advance prep, you can plunk down a portable butane stove (available online), broth-filled hot pot, and platter of raw seafood and veggies and let your guests drop in the goodies and fish them out with chopsticks or small skimmer-strainers known as “spiders.” Hiro uses a 12-inch-wide, 3 1⁄2-inch-deep Japanese clay pot with a lid and handle, but you can use any shallow 10-inch- wide saucepot. If you don’t have a portable stove, you can cook all of the ingredients in your kitchen and let your guests garnish them at the table. It’ll still be delicious (but not nearly as fun).
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1 (3 by 2-inch) piece dashi kombu (dried kelp)
  • 1⁄2 small napa cabbage cored and leaves cut into 1 1⁄2-inch wedges
  • 1 small carrot peeled, sliced into thin disks, and cut with a mini cookie cutter, if desired
  • 12 (1 1⁄2-inch diameter) shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and slits decoratively made on the caps, if desired
  • 1 leek white parts only, cleaned and cut diagonally into 1⁄2 by 3-inch pieces, or 2 green onions, cut diagonally into 1⁄2 by 3-inch pieces
  • 1 bunch chrysanthemum leaves spinach, or both (about 5 cups)
  • 1 1⁄2 pounds skin on boneless lingcod fillet, scales removed and fillet cut into 1-inch slices
  • 12 Cherrystone clams or Manila clams
  • 16 tail-on deveined shrimp
  • 1 recipe Ponzu Sauce see below
  • 1⁄2 cup Momiji Oroshi see below
  • 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Instructions

  1. Place the portable stove in the middle of the dining table and set a shallow 10-inch-wide pot on the burner. Set the table with soup bowls, chopsticks, and small strainers or skimmers, if you have them. Add small side bowls or ramekins for the dipping sauce.
  2. Fill a large pot with 8 cups water and the kombu and warm on your kitchen stovetop over medium-low heat to just below boiling, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard the kombu. Keep the broth warm.
  3. Meanwhile, arrange the vegetables, mushrooms, and greens on a large platter. Place the seafood on another platter. Pour the Ponzu Sauce into a pitcher. Place the Momiji Oroshi in a small serving bowl. Place the chives in a small serving bowl. Set them on the table.
  4. When you’re ready to serve, fill a 10-inch-wide pot on the portable stove with 2 1⁄2 inches of broth. Turn the heat so the broth is just below simmering. In batches, add to the pot items that take the longest to cook: cabbage, carrot, shiitakes, and leek. Once they're cooked, add some seafood to the pot of vegetables, and then the leafy greens.
  5. Ask guests to take a serving of dipping sauce and season it with Momiji Oroshi and chives and then invite them to pick out from the cooked food in the pot, dip it in the sauce, and eat it. Be sure to watch the pot, skim any foam from the surface, and continue to add broth, vegetables, and seafood slowly to keep the pot full and hot.