Authentic Hakata Chicken Mizutaki Hotpot
https://sudachirecipes.comLearn how to make Hakata's famous chicken mizutaki hot pot from scratch at home! This comforting dish is made by simmering homemade meatballs and a variety of vegetables in a simple yet elegant chicken bone and kombu broth. Mizutaki is not just a hot pot recipe, it's an experience!
Ingredients
Pot 1 (kombu dashi)
- 10 g dried kelp (kombu) kombu
- 2000 ml water
- 4-6 chicken drumsticks
- 250 g boneless chicken thigh(s) bone-in
Pot 2 (chicken stock)
- 1-2 chicken carcass neck/backbones
- cold water and boiling water for washing
- 2000 ml water for the stock
- 50 g Japanese leeks (naganegi) green part
- 50 g ginger root roughly cut
- 2 garlic clove(s)
Chicken meatballs
- 200 g ground chicken
- 1 small egg if using a large egg, whisk and use half. You can use the other half for zosui later
- ½ tbsp yellow miso paste (awase miso)
- ½ tsp grated ginger root
- ½ tsp grated garlic
- ½ tbsp cornstarch
Vegetables
- 300 g green cabbage roughly cut
- 100 g enoki mushroom(s) roots removed
- 100 g carrot(s) thickly sliced
- 50 g Japanese leeks (naganegi) white part diagonally sliced
- 100 g potherb mustard (mizuna) mizuna, greens roots removed
- 50 g fresh shiitake mushroom(s) stem trimmed
Condiments for serving (to taste)
- salt
- ponzu sauce
- yuzu kosho yuzu pepper paste
"Shime" (last course) optional
- 3 portions cooked Japanese short-grain rice for zosui washed after cooking to remove excess starch and/or cooked ramen noodles
- 1 tsp shredded sushi nori seaweed "kizami nori" (optional) for topping rice
- 2 medium egg(s) (optional) for topping rice, whisked
- 1 tbsp finely chopped green onions
- 4 pinches Japanese chili powder (shichimi togarashi) shichimi togarashi
Instructions
- Add 10 g dried kelp (kombu) and 2000 ml water to a pot and soak for 30 minutes.
- While the kombu is soaking, place the 1-2 chicken carcass in a heatproof bowl and fill with cold water. Rub the surface and drain the water.
- Pour boiling water over the top and let it soak for a few minutes. Drain and add cold water again to cool it quickly. Rub the surface again to remove any blood or debris and drain.
- Cut the carcass into smaller pieces (I cut it into about about 8-10 pieces) and repeat step 3 to thoroughly clean it.
- Once the kombu has soaked for 30 minutes, add 250 g boneless chicken thigh(s) and 4-6 chicken drumsticks to the pot (pot 1) and place it on the stove over a medium heat. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer, simmer for 30 minutes. This will be your kombu dashi.
- While the kombu dashi and chicken are simmering, place another large pot (pot 2) on the other burner and add the carcass, water, 50 g Japanese leeks (naganegi), 50 g ginger root and 2 garlic clove(s). This will be your chicken stock.
- Bring the chicken stock to a boil over a medium heat and as it boils, remove the scum that appears at the top.
- Once the scum stops coming out, lower the heat to medium to medium-low and cook for 1 hour.
- After 30 minutes have passed, remove the chicken pieces from the kombu dashi (pot 1) and set aside for later. Discard the kombu and turn off the heat. Use the kombu dashi to top up the chicken stock in pot 2.
- After an hour, remove the spring onion, ginger and garlic from the chicken stock and use a masher to crush the bones in the water. Add the rest of the kombu dashi so that you have combined the two pots into one and continue to simmer over a medium/medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
- While the stock is simmering, mix all of the meatball ingredients in a bowl. Cover and store in the fridge until later.
- Once the chicken stock has been simmering for 1 hour 30 minutes in total, turn off the heat. Place a mesh sieve over a large heatproof bowl and strain the chicken stock to remove any remaining bones. (If your bowl isn't big enough you can do this in batches.)
- Transfer the strained broth to your serving pot and place it on the stove. (If possible, I recommend using a portable stove on your dining table at this point.) Bring the broth back to a boil and then turn down to simmer.
- Use a ladle to pour the soup into serving cups and place the chicken thighs and drumsticks from earlier back into the broth. While they reheat, enjoy the soup with salt or/and yuzu kosho (to taste).
- Once the chicken is warmed through, remove it from the pot and divide it equally between each person. Enjoy dipped in ponzu sauce.
- Take the meatball mixture from the fridge and use two spoons to scoop it up and scrape it directly into the simmering broth (It's too sticky to roll by hand). Turn up the heat to medium/medium-high and boil for 10-15 minutes or until cooked through. Once cooked, eat half the meatballs with ponzu or preferred condiment and save the other half for later.
- Add the vegetables to the soup and cook until the carrots are softened.
- Enjoy the vegetables and the rest of the meatballs with either ponzu or soup seasoned with salt or yuzu kosho.
- Once the meatballs and vegetables have all been eaten, prepare the final course (shime) by adding either cooked rice or cooked noodles to the broth and then divide them into individual servings. If using rice, I recommend adding whisked egg to the pot and serving once the egg is cooked to your liking. Zosui is great topped with kizami nori and chopped spring onions. Each person should season their rice (zosui) or noodle soup with salt or yuzu kosho to taste.
Notes
If you're too full to finish the soup, you can store the leftover broth to use later in the fridge for about 3 days or up to 1 month in the freezer.