About the Recipe
A quick but richly flavoured Japanese hotpot for a cold afternoon or evening.
Ingredients
1/2 leek, rinsed
2 large chinese leaves
a small bunch of choi sum
4 shiitake mushrooms
4 oyster mushrooms
for the meatballs:
1 cm / 1/2 inch piece of peeled ginger,
1/4 onion
250g / 9oz minced chicken
a pinch of salt
1 tsp cooking sake
1 tbsp potato flour
1 tsp vegetable oil
for the broth:
550 ml / 18 fl oz water
1 tbsp Japanese stock granules
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp cooking sake
40g / 1.5oz miso paste
Preparation
how to:
first, prepare the vegetables:
slice the leek into chunks using a diagonal cut
remove off the stem ends of the Chinese leaves, then cut them in half, halve longways and slice
trim off the stem ends of the pak choi and cut into 5cm / 2inch pieces
trim off the stems of the mushrooms end. cut any large mushrooms in half
next, to make the chicken meatballs:
slice and mince the onion and ginger and combine them into a bowl
add the minced chicken, salt, 1 tsp of cooking sake and 1 tbsp of potato flour. mix everything together well.
rub 1 tsp of vegetable oil over your hands (this will stop the mixture sticking to your hands)
take about 1 tbsp of the minced chicken mixture and roll it into a ball
repeat until all the mixture is used up
next, to make the hotpot broth:
add the water, Japanese stock granules, soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake and miso paste to a medium pan. stir together
turn the heat on and bring the broth to the boil. add the chicken balls. simmer for 2 minutes. remove the chicken balls to a plate. if there is any scum on the surface of the broth, skim it off
add all the vegetables to the pan and return the chicken balls
turn on the heat again and cook until the leeks are cooked (this should take about 5 mins)
try the broth. if it tastes too salty, add a little more water until it suits your taste