Chanko Nabe (Sumo Stew)
Ingredients
Homemade Chicken Meatballs
- 200 g ground chicken
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- ½ tbsp yellow miso paste (awase)
- ½ tsp grated ginger root or ginger paste
- 1 clove grated garlic or ½ tsp garlic paste per clove
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Broth
- 1000 ml dashi stock
- 1 ½ tbsp Chinese-style chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp grated ginger root or ginger paste
- 2 cloves grated garlic or ½ tsp garlic paste per clove
- 2 tbsp ground sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp yellow miso paste (awase)
Other Ingredients
- 1 carrot peeled and cut into thick rounds
- 1 Japanese leek (naganegi) (white part) cut into thick diagonal slices
- 1 bunch enoki mushrooms
- 2 fresh shiitake mushrooms
- ⅛ Napa cabbage roughly cut
- 150 g firm tofu cubed
- 1 bunch potherb mustard (mizuna) stems removed
Instructions
Homemade Chicken Meatballs
- First prepare the meatballs. Add 200 g ground chicken to a bowl along with ½ tbsp yellow miso paste (awase), 1/2 tsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), ½ tsp grated ginger root and 1 clove grated garlic. Mix until the ingredients are well distributed (especially the miso, we don't want any lumps!).
- In a small separate bowl, crack 1 egg and lightly whisk.
- Add the egg and 2 tbsp cornstarch to the chicken mince, mix until you have a sticky mixture. Cover and refrigerate until it's time to cook. These can be prepared ahead of time.
Broth
- Add 1000 ml dashi stock, 1 ½ tbsp Chinese-style chicken bouillon powder, 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp grated ginger root, 2 cloves grated garlic, and 2 tbsp ground sesame seeds to the pot. Mix well and bring to a gentle boil over a medium heat.
- Once boiling, add the meatballs by scooping the ground chicken mixture onto a spoon and using another spoon to scrape it directly into the broth (the mixture is too wet and sticky to roll into balls).
- Once the mixture is used up and all the meatballs are in the broth, cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes.
Other ingredients
- Add 1 carrot and any root vegetables first as they take a bit longer than the other vegetables. Boil for a few minutes before adding the rest of your vegetables and 150 g firm tofu. Simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and mix in 2 tbsp yellow miso paste (awase) by scooping it onto a miso strainer and dipping it in the broth. Use chopsticks or a small whisk to break up the miso paste and gradually incorporate it into the rest of the broth.
- Tip: If you don't have a miso strainer, pour a small amount of broth into a bowl and whisk to break up the miso before pouring it into the pot.
- Mix well and serve. You can enjoy this dish with rice or savor the leftover soup with udon noodles.
Notes
- If you have a portable stove, you can sit it on your table and continue to cook and more add ingredients until the broth is gone.
- Note: While the nutritional information includes the full serving of broth, most people in Japan don't actually finish all the soup.
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