Pork belly and greens hot pot
A communal dish cooked and shared at the dining table, hot pot is the quintessential Japanese comfort food — great for cold weather and for feeding an intimate group (emphasis on the intimate — you are, after all, eating from the same pot). The foundation of the hot pot is the broth, which often includes dashi, a stock of konbu and dried bonito flakes. In this recipe, thin slices of pork belly are dipped into a simmering broth of dashi, mirin and soy sauce, imbuing the liquid with the rich flavor of pork.
Japanese cooks traditionally use a donabe, a clay vessel with a slightly rounded bottom and domed lid. All you really need is a cast-iron Dutch oven to make hot pot at home.
To slice the meat yourself, freeze until it partially hardens (2 to 3 hours), then slice it thinly against the grain with a very sharp knife.
From the story: Hot pot cooking goes haute
Dashi
In a medium stockpot, combine 8 cups of water with the konbu and set the mixture aside to steep for 30 minutes. Place the stockpot over medium heat and bring it to a boil. Remove and discard the konbu, and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of water. Add the bonito and stir it once to combine. As soon as the liquid boils again, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove any scum that appears on the surface, as this can adversely affect the flavor.
Remove from the heat and set aside to steep for 15 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth; don’t squeeze the bonito flakes. Discard the bonito flakes. This should make 4 to 5 cups dashi.
Hot pot assembly
To prepare the broth, in a medium bowl, combine the dashi, mirin and soy sauce.
In a pot (such as a Japanese clay donabe or cast-iron Dutch oven), place the negi, then pour in the broth.
Cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to a simmer, uncover the pot and add the pork belly, arranging the slices on top of the negi. When the hot pot returns to a simmer, continue to cook for 3 minutes. Add the spinach, mizuna, shungiku leaves, watercress and baby bok choy in a random pile on top of the pork belly. Cover and simmer until the greens are cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes; gently press the greens into the broth if necessary for even cooking.
Transfer the hot pot to the dining table. Serve the ingredients together with the broth in small bowls, garnishing with the white pepper.
Alternatively, this can be cooked tableside with a portable gas burner: Arrange the ingredients on serving platters. After preparing the broth, do all the cooking at the dining table. Add the negi all at once. Then cook a little of the greens and pork belly at a time.
Konbu (kelp for stock), dried bonito flakes, usukuchi soy sauce, negi (Japanese green onions) and the greens mizuna and shungiku are available at Japanese markets.
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