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Shabu shabu: 30 Days of Japanese Food

Michael Turtle | 4 Comments

Day 15: Shabu shabu

I’m starting to think that perhaps there are some Japanese foods I like purely for the name, regardless of how they taste. Even before I tried shabu shabu, I had decided I would embrace it. I mean how can you not love a food that has an onomatopoeia for a name – in this case, the sound of swishing a thin piece of meat through boiling water. Shabu shabu.

Luckily it is also delicious and has already become one of my favourite dining experiences in Japan. Let’s go back to the start and I’ll explain how it works.

shabu shabu, sukiyaki, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese cuisine, boiled pot meals, shared food

Shabu shabu is a form of ‘cook yourself’ food. On the table you’ll have a big pot of broth that sits over a heater. On the side, you’ll have a selection of thin slices of raw meat and chopped vegetables. Once the broth is hot enough, you boil the food in it. The meat normally only needs a few seconds and you should only wave it through a couple of times and then eat it, without it ever leaving your chopsticks. The vegetables normally need a bit longer, though, so you can dump them in the water and leave them for a couple of minutes while they get nice and soft.

Normally with shabu shabu you would also want to dip the cooked food in something before you put it into your mouth. The two most popular accompaniments are sesame sauce or ponzu (a citrus flavoured sauce) but you could also have minced garlic, ginger, curry powder or a range of other things.

shabu shabu, sukiyaki, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese cuisine, boiled pot meals, shared food

Shabu shabu is quite similar to another dish you may have heard of called sukiyaki. The main difference is in the broth which is used. The Sukiyaki pot has a mixture that includes soy sauce and sugar, whereas the shabu shabu one is quite simple.

In the end I had a dinner where we had a selection of both shabu shabu and sukiyaki on the table. I went with a couple of friends because this is a meal best eaten with good company and we ate more than our fair share at this restaurant in Tokyo’s Shinjuku area!

shabu shabu, sukiyaki, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese cuisine, boiled pot meals, shared food

In a lot of the shabu shabu restaurants, you pay a fixed fee for an all-you-can-eat or pre-arranged amount of food. This one was a very good deal and was 2400 yen (US$24.40) for each person for as much as we could handle. At other places, the price can easily be four times that depending on the quality of the meat and the atmosphere.

This is a dining experience I would highly recommend in Japan with a group of friends or family. Oh, and this restaurant did a reasonable all-you-can-drink deal too! 🙂

[button size=’medium’ text=’DAY 14: Takoyaki’ icon=’fa-arrow-left’ icon_size=’fa-3x’ icon_color=” link=’http://ttt.rtwlabs.net/2013/04/takoyaki-japanese-food/’ target=’_self’ color=” background_color=” border_color=” font_style=’normal’ font_weight=’300′ text_align=’right’]
[button size=’medium’ text=’DAY 16: Nigiri Zushi’ icon=’fa-arrow-right’ icon_size=’fa-3x’ icon_color=” link=’http://ttt.rtwlabs.net/2013/04/nigiri-zushi-japanese-food/’ target=’_self’ color=” background_color=” border_color=” font_style=’normal’ font_weight=’300′ text_align=’left’]

[button size=’big_large’ text=’You can check out the whole list of Japanese food dishes here’ icon=” icon_size=” icon_color=” link=’http://ttt.rtwlabs.net/japanese-food-dishes/’ target=’_blank’ color=” background_color=” border_color=” font_style=” font_weight=” text_align=’center’]

 

Day 1: Oyakodon

oyakodon, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, rice meals

Day 2: Ramen

ramen, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, noodle meals

Day 3: Okonomiyaki

okonomiyaki, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes

Day 4: Tonkatsu

tonkatsu, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes

Day 5: Tsukemen

tsukemen, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, noodle meals

Day 6: Sashimi

sashimi, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, raw fish

Day 7: Curry Rice

curry rice, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, japanese curry

Day 8: Karaage

karaage, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried chicken in japan, fried japanese food

Day 9: Soba noodles

soba noodles, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried chicken in japan, noodles dishes

Day 10: Tempura

tempura, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried food

Day 11: Gyoza

gyoza, japanese food, japanese dishes, asian dumplings

Day 12: Yakisoba

yakisoba, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried noodles dishes

Day 13: Katsudon

katsudon, japanese food, japanese dishes, chicken and rice

Day 14: Takoyaki

takoyaki, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese cuisine, fried balls, tokyo street snacks

Day 15: Shabu shabu

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Day 16: Nigiri Zushi

nigiri zushi, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese cuisine, types of sushi, rice and raw fish

Day 17: Yakitori

yakitori, japanese food, japanese dishes, grilled meat in japan

Day 18: Udon

udon, japanese food, japanese dishes, noodles in japan, types of udon

Day 19: Teppanyaki

teppanyaki, japanese food, japanese dishes, grilled food in japan, teppanyaki restaurants

Day 20: Omurice

omurice, japanese food, japanese dishes, egg and rice cooking, osaka

Day 21: Kushikatsu

kushikatsu, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried food on a stick, snack food in japan

Day 22: Onigiri

onigiri, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese snacks, rice balls with filling, convenience stores

Day 23: Miso soup

miso soup, japanese food, japanese dishes, soup with seaweed and tofu, japan

Day 24: Makizushi

makizushi, japanese food, japanese dishes, types of sushi, seaweed nori and rice

Day 25: Donburi

donburi, Japanese food, Japanese dishes, rice meals in Japan, Matsuya

Day 26: Bento

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Day 27: Edamame

edamame, japanese food, japanese dishes, green beans in japan, japanese snacks

Day 28: Champon

champon, noodles, japanese food, japanese dishes, mixed noodles, pork, seafood, vegetables

Day 29: Tsukemono

tsukemono, pickled vegetables, japanese food, japanese dishes, side orders, japan

Day 30: Sake

sake, japanese rice wine, rice alcohol, japanese drinks, sake brewery

Reader Interactions

    Comments Cancel reply

  1. zoomingjapan |

    April 16, 2013 at 11:59 am

    Reply

    I love Shabu-Shabu so much!
    That’s such a great way of eating meat!
    I only wish it wasn’t so expensive! ^___^;

    • Michael Turtle |

      April 16, 2013 at 11:48 pm

      Reply

      I think we were lucky we found a cheap one. I couldn’t believe how expensive some of the places were. Easily over 10,000 yen ($100) each!

  2. Annie |

    April 20, 2013 at 9:57 pm

    Reply

    DELICIOUS! Wish we could go again soon. I’m going to have to research making it at home.

    • Michael Turtle |

      April 24, 2013 at 3:02 pm

      Reply

      So delicious! We’ll have to find a local in Sydney so we can go all the time! (Or you could make it at home… but I would feel bad taking advantage of the ‘all-you-can-eat’ aspect.)

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This is the website of travel writer, Michael Turtle. After working in broadcast journalism for a decade in Australia, Michael left Sydney to travel the world indefinitely and write about the places, people and experiences he discovers. This isn’t a diary – these are real stories from the world.

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