Sesame and Soya Milk Hotpot

Sesame and Soya Milk Hotpot

When I first came to England (nearly thirty years ago, OMG!), soya milk was

something you found in health food shops and just about nowhere else.

Today, things are very different - you can find soya milk stocked in just about every supermarket and you have a choice of a whole heap of brands and flavours. I use soya milk as a dairy substitute and I also use it in cooking, so I thought I would put a soya milk dish on the website.

Using soya milk in a hotpot is quite a new thing even in Japan but it's easy to do and really quite healthy. The only thing to be aware of is that the soya milk has to go in last and shouldn't be boiled otherwise it will separate. (If you look at the picture, you can see that mine did separate (aaaargh!) - this doesn't change the flavour a jot however.)

This dish makes a great alternative to a traditional hotpot - it's ready in under 30 mins and it has that lovely warming, home cooked flavour that's perfect for autumn and winter suppers. If you have any leftover soup, a great thing to do is pop it in the fridge and use it the next day to cook some udon noodles for your lunch - two meals in one - what's not to like about that!

If you want to try this recipe out, take a look at my youtube tutorial Sesame and Soya milk Hotpot or you can find the written recipe here.

Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX.

If you fancy a more traditional Japanese hotpot, why not try out my pork and vegetable miso stew recipe which you can find by clicking Tonjiru.

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ingredients: 2 servings

1 boneless chicken breast

1/2 small chinese cabbage (250g)

60g carrot

100g leek

50g sugar snaps

2 shiitake mushrooms

300ml water

1 tbsp vegetable stock

2 tbsp crushed sesame seeds

2 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp miso paste

1/2 tsp salt

250ml soya milk

50g fresh spinach

1 packet of udon (optional)*

*if you have any leftover broth, you can use it the next day - it will make a tasty lunch if you cook some udon or ramen noodles in it

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how to:

halve the chicken breast lengthways, then slice diagonally into bite sized pieces

halve the chinese cabbage lengthways, then cut into chunks

slice the leek diagonally

peel & halve the carrot, then slice lengthways

remove the stalk from the shiitake, then slice

put the water, stock powder/cubes, tahini, crushed sesame seeds, mirin, sugar & miso in a pan, stir and bring to the boil

add the cabbage, chicken, leek, carrot & shiitake and cook for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked (if you are using udon noodles as well, put these into the pan 3 minutes before the end of the cooking time)

add the sugar snaps, soya milk, salt & spinach and bring back to the boil, then turn off the heat immediately. (if you don’t, the soya milk may separate.)

serve at the table, using a ladle to serve the chicken, vegetables and broth and cooking chopsticks to serve the udon

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Sesame and Soya Milk Hotpot