Sadogatake Chanko-Nabe Miso-Aji (Sumo Style Pork Hot Pot)
The staple dish of the sumo world is a hearty, filling one-pot meal, consisting of broth, vegetables, and meat or seafood, called nabe. When nabe is prepared by sumo wrestlers, it's called chanko-nabe, a name some believe refers to a sumo stable, master and his apprentices. The tradition of sumo wrestlers eating nabe supposedly began in the early 1900s, when star wrestler turned stable master, Hitachiyama, made a batch for his charges and realizing that the meal, usually cooked over a gas burner set on the table with diners gathered around, was not only nutritious and inexpensive but was also easy to prepare and eaten in a way that reinforced the communal aspect of the stable. It wasn't long before other stable masters were serving chanko-nabe, too. This recipe is from the sumo stable called Sadogatake.
DIRECTIONS
- Bring 10 cups cold water to a boil in a wide medium cooking pot over high heat. Add dashi flakes, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring until flakes completely dissolve, about 1 minute.
- Add pork, sake, and mirin to dashi and simmer, skimming any foam that rises to surface, until pork is tender, 15-30 minutes.
- Dissolve red and white misos in 1 cup broth from cooking pot in a small bowl, then stir back into cooking pot.
- At the table, set cooking pot on a portable stove in center of table and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Add carrots, daikon, potatoes, onions, firm tofu, mushrooms, fried tofu, cabbage, and chives, in that order, and simmer until vegetables are just soft, about 5 minutes. The hot pot is now ready to be eaten "self-serve" style in medium bowls.
- (Optional) Once all the pork, vegetables, and tofu have been eaten, use a small sieve to pick out scraps. Bring remaining broth in cooking pot back to a simmer, then add rice or noodles and stir in eggs.
- Simmer until broth is absorbed by rice, about 5 minutes, or until noodles are cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Divide between bowls.