Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Shabu Shabu: Not Just a Fun Name For Food


Shabu shabu and nabe are two styles of Japanese cooking that don't get enough play as they should. Both are broth-based meals in a pot, full of meat and vegetables and eaten with rice and noodles. It's yummy and healthy and surprisingly light. Shabu shabu uses a mostly water base for cooking (with a little konbu thrown in for flavor), and includes vegetables and anything from seafood to Kobe beef to Berkshire pork. Nabe is a seasoned broth and comes with pork seafood, a chicken sausage/meatball (shown above in the bamboo contraption) along with vegetables. You cook everything yourself. My shabu shabu/nabe experience happened at Ichiriki on Piikoi, but I hear good things about Shabu Shabu House on Kapiolani from my friend Mary...but then I found out that a waitress there asked her if she was a model, so she may be biased.

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