Valentine's Day Hot Pot

Can't say I'm one for the sappy candle-lit dinners or heart-shaped boxes of assorted chocolates that, inevitably, contain that nasty nougat. I would give up on Valentines Day completely if it wasn't for the small fact that it is probably one of the least "corrupt in its origins" holidays out there. Now, don't get it confused with corporate and commercialized corruption, no holiday is safe from that. I'm talking raping, pillaging, and murder in the name of land and religion. Yes...I'm looking at you Thanksgiving and St.Patrick's day. Granted these too, hold a place in my heart since I feel these holidays have evolved into new meanings since then. Valentine's day growing up for me was a wonderful day filled with hearts, cards, and candy. At our school, we had to give cards to everyone, so nobody was ever left out. Not that it mattered. As long as we got the M&M Valentines, it was all good! It was also a day where my mom would make us feel extra special by baking us cupcakes, or as the years passed, some girly scented lotion and a box of turtles. This was a holiday where I didn't need a boyfriend to feel loved. When out at college I would do something extra special for myself this day. So single ladies, Tah-reet Yo-seeelf! I've got a wonderful man, so I'm going to treat him today ^_^

I decided to do a nice Japanese style "hot pot" knowing that Matt has a donabe pot...somewhere. Eventually found it far back in one of the cupboards.

Now, from my days in ceramic classes, I was told that most ceramic ware does not hold well against a bare flame.  So, I did my share of research just to make sure that putting the pot on an open flame wouldn't crack it. Thinking that Matt had bought this while in Japan, I was very thorough with gathering information so as not to destroy his precious pot. He assured me later that this was just a 10 dollar pot he purchased at Lee's Market down on Division St. Good to know in case I completely screw this up. I also looked up how to temper or "season" the clay pot (because I figured Matt hadn't ever cooked in it for all the years he's had it). A lot of websites said to put 1 part cooked rice with about 5 parts water and to set the pot on low. Really low. And simmer for an hour...

At one notch above the lowest setting, this slowly started to simmer in about 15 minutes. The porridge started to bubble out a little bit once the boiling picked up but that's alright. The rice acts as a glue and fills in the porous surface of the pot which makes the pot stronger. After the hour was up I turned it off and let it cool down for another hour. A slow cool prevents cracking. From there on, it was just a gentle rinse. Phew. Everything was still looking good with no cracks! Now to prepare the nabemono!

Since we had a bout of spring time, I was really in the mood for bok choy as well as other springtime veggies. I rummaged through some stuff we already had like shitake, tofu, and some frozen raw shrimp as well as some makings for an interesting stock.

The broth got placed in the pot first which was just a simple blend of leftover turkey stock, bonito flakes, and miso paste.

Made some quick "fishballs" from minced shrimp, sate seasoning and some breadcrumbs. These were placed in the hot pot first since they needed to cook longer. Then the tofu, mushrooms and the rest of the greens were arranged in the pot once it got to a nice simmer. I cooked the noodles al dente separately ahead of time and were placed in last.

Clockwise from top: Baby bok choy, sugar peas, green onion, enoki mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, tofu, and udon noodles.

For garnish, I toasted some seaweed sheets and crumpled them on top. So pretty and green! Like little green snowdrops popping through the snow on the first day of spring!

Of course, No hot pot is complete without...cock sauce! There we go. Perfect spice to warm ourselves up on this cold and windy February. We curled up on the couch with this warm little bowl propped up between us as we watched Ranma 1/2. I love you Matt and I love being able to enjoy everything Japanese with you!


Happy Valentines Day everyone!