Shabu Shabu

Shabu Shabu is the sound it makes with you “swish swish” the meat in the piping hot broth. And this is only part of the fun.

My friends claim that Shabu Shabu is an easy meal. One they whip up regularly for their families here in Japan. But, for me, each time I’ve convened around a table loaded with gorgeous perfectly prepared fresh vegetables—mushrooms, cabbages, varied sprouts, tofu and greens— razor-thin-sliced cuts of pork and beef or fish, and a bubbling broth of delicious variations—think kombu or miso, soy and dashi, I am blown away by the delicacy, the deliciousness and the potential for danger. And, I wimp out!

Shabu Shabu is an interactive meal, meant to be shared with people you enjoy all while being individualized for each person’s preferences. Diners add their ingredients of choice to the boiling broth in the nabe pot, typically clay or cast iron, which sits atop a portable stove at the center of the table. Once they are cooked to your fancy, you can eat them with the broth or a selection of dips and sauces, rice and some pickled accompaniments. It is heaven! A hot heaven, especially for this middle-aged lady, but heaven nonetheless.

Like most things in Japan, there is an elegance and an order in the seeming simplicity of a nabe meal. And, as the resident klutz, I avoid such things on my own. But lucky for me, I have wonderful, smart, creative and supportive friends, my nabe bugyo, who have guided me through so many unexpected adventures, who’ve introduced me to so many secrets and sanctuaries here in Japan, and who’ve dished up one magical meal after another!

Shabu Shabu. Swish Swish. Sharing a meal with people I love just might be my favorite ingredient for joy!