Japanese · main

Yosenabe (Gathered Hot Pot of Fish, Shellfish and Winter Vegetables)

Yosenabe (Gathered Hot Pot of Fish, Shellfish and Winter Vegetables) reads umami 4.4, salinity 4.4 and citrus 3.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Japanese main, about 30 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 5.4 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.8 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 4.8 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.2 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 2.8 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 1.4 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 4.4 · Salinity 4.4 · Citrus 3.9 · Marine & Briny 3.3 · Sourness 2.9 · Richness 2.6 · Sweetness 2.5 · Funk & Ferment 2.4 · Earthy 2.1 · Herbaceous 1.2 · Fruity 1.1 · Floral 1.1 · Allium 0.9 · Bitterness 0.8 · Nutty 0.8

What's in it (16)

• kombu dashi — 1400 g
• sake — 100 g
• soy sauce — 44 g
• mirin — 30 g
• salt — 5 g
• cod — 300 g
• shrimp — 240 g
• clams — 300 g
• chicken thigh — 200 g
• chinese cabbage — 300 g
• shungiku — 150 g
• fresh shiitake mushrooms — 400 g
• firm tofu — 200 g
• green onion — 110 g
• udon — 200 g
• ponzu — 120 g

Time & effort: about 30 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 45.4 kcal, 3.9 g protein, 2.8 g fat, 1.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

1. Warm the kombu dashi with the sake, usukuchi soy, mirin and salt in a wide earthenware donabe or a shallow casserole set on a portable burner at the table. Taste it: this broth is meant to be barely seasoned, a little weaker than you would want to drink, because it will strengthen all evening as the fish and shellfish cook in it. That gradual concentration is the whole idea of a nabe.
2. Arrange everything raw on one or two large platters, grouped by kind, and bring them to the table with the pot. Nabemono is cooked in front of the people eating it, in the order of what takes longest.
3. Bring the broth to a bare simmer. Start with the chicken and the thick stems of the napa cabbage and cook 5 minutes. Add the shiitake, tofu and negi and cook 3 minutes more.
4. Add the clams and shrimp, and when the clams have opened, after 3 to 4 minutes, add the fish and poach it 3 to 4 minutes, until it turns opaque and just begins to flake. Discard any clam that stays shut. Lay the shungiku on top at the last moment and let it wilt for 30 seconds only; cooked longer it goes bitter and stringy.
5. Everyone lifts what they want into their own small bowl and dips it in ponzu. Keep the pot at the faintest simmer and add more of each ingredient as gaps appear, skimming the surface once or twice with a fine mesh spoon.
6. When the food is gone, the broth is the prize. Cook the udon in it for 3 minutes, or the harusame for 2, and share it out. If you would rather finish with rice, see zosui, which is the other half of this dish and the reason people say the last bowl of a nabe is the best one.
7. Substitutions: sea bream fillet can stand in for the cod; 2 leeks (120 g) can stand in for the negi; 100 g harusame noodles can stand in for the udon.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Mediterranean Spinach Lasagna — Mediterranean
• Lemon-Garlic Greek Salmon — Greek
• Vitello Tonnato — Italian
• Marmite Dieppoise — French · Normandy
• Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai) — Thai

Keep reading: what umami, salinity, citrus mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

See how this dish fits your palate — take the short taste test →

Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.