Bizen Kinsai Donabe Japanese Clay Pot

These traditional Japanese clay dishes are designed for hotpot, and other simmered and braised dishes. The clay offers exceptional heat retention, allowing the pot to
slowly and gently radiate heat into your food. There’s an authentic joy that comes with cooking in clay. The time spent with the pot is meaningful, and it becomes more beautiful with age. Clay also requires a more tender touch than your cast iron pan.
While dropping them is obviously a bad idea, they’re also sensitive to big changes in heat.

After washing, allow your donabe to dry well before using it again. Place it on a colder burner (Not induction stove, unfortunately), and heat it slowly the way you would a nonstick pan. Avoid adding very cold liquids when it’s heated, or adding very hot food when it is cold. In general, avoid extreme combinations of hot and cold ingredients or surfaces, and always heat it gently. Make sure to allow it to cool before washing.

PREPARING YOUR DONABE

When you first use your donabe, it needs to be prepared. This process is called ‘Medome’, think of it as similar to seasoning cast iron.

1. Wash it thoroughly with warm water and dry it completely.
2. Pour water into the pot until it’s 80% full, add a handful of rice (or a spoonful of cornstarch).
3. Heat over medium/low heat uncovered for an hour.
4. Let it cool.
5. Throw away the contents, wash thoroughly, and dry completely.

Over time, you may see some small cracks as you use your donabe. Just repeat this medome process when these cracks appear, to prolong the life of your donabe.

For more inspiration about what to cook in your new donabe, we
have a couple favourite books that we sell at Knifewear: Donabe:
Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking and Japanese Hot
Pots: Comforting One Pot Meals.

Our resident sharpening wizard, Naoto, has also prepared his easy
hotpot recipe for you to use for your first donabe meal! You can cook it
over a portable stove in your dining area, or cook over your stove and
bring it to your dining area.

KANSAI MIZUTAKI HOT POT RECIPE

Serves: 4-6 people
Ingredients

• Water: 4 cups
• Kombu (dried kelp): 1 10cm long strip of kombu
• As much chicken thighs/drumsticks/wings as you like
• Hakusai Nappa Cabbage: half (cut to 2” thick)
• Soft Tofu: half package
• Shimeji Mushroom: 1 pack
• Enoki Mushroom: 1 pack
• Daikon Radish: half
• Shiitake Mushroom: as much as you like
• Great optional add-ons if available
• Konjac noodle, Green bean noodle, Maruni noodles (these are the best but you can substitute any brand of glass noodles)
  

Dipping Sauce

• Ponzu (you can use a lime juice and soy sauce mixture if you don’t have
  access to ponzu)
• Grated daikon radish
• Chive (finely chopped)
  

Set each of these out in their own dishes. Your guests can take small
amounts of each and mix them in a dish for their dipping pleasure.

Directions

1. Cut all ingredients into bite size pieces.
2. Pour water in a pot and soak kombu (dried kelp) for an hour before.
3. Bring water to boil, take the kombu out before it boils. Discard the kombu.
4. Put the chicken and daikon in the pot, cook for a few minutes.
5. Put the rest of the ingredients in, cover the pot and cook until the steam shoots out from the pot.
6. Dip the ingredients in the dipping sauce, and enjoy!
7. Once you’ve eaten your protein and veggies, add your favourite noodles and enjoy with the remaining broth.