Hot pot & soups ── Nabe (hot pot)
Burishabu
Burishabu — yellowtail shabu-shabu
Thin slices of yellowtail are swished briefly through kelp broth, said to cook only the surface while leaving the center rare — versions using Himi's branded winter yellowtail are considered a particularly luxurious cold-weather treat.
- Origin: Toyama Himi
- Shabu-shabu style
- About 280 km northwest of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Thin slices of fatty yellowtail passed briefly through hot broth, shabu-shabu style. Only the surface cooks, leaving the inside barely warmed, so the flesh firms slightly while staying almost melting at the center. Just enough fat renders away to keep the aftertaste light, and dipped in citrus-soy or sesame sauce, the yellowtail's natural sweetness and aroma are said to come through even more.
How it's made
Kelp and water are heated in a pot, brought to a boil, and seasoned with sake and salt. The yellowtail is sliced thin, and greens, scallion, and mushrooms are cut into easy pieces. Both are passed briefly through the hot broth and eaten with a dipping sauce of choice. Passing the fish through just long enough, without overcooking, is said to be the key to keeping its smooth texture.
Why it took this shape
Winter yellowtail taken from a bay sometimes called a natural fish pen is known for firm flesh and heavy fat, and is said to have long been prized as an auspicious fish for New Year and other celebrations. Because the fishing grounds sit close to the harbors and freshness is well regarded, using sashimi-grade cuts for a quick hot-broth preparation is said to have spread more widely in recent years.
Before You Go
- Foods to look for in winterA guide to foods often seen in Japan around winter — nabe hot pot, fugu, oysters, crab, year-end soba, and osechi — with rough pointers for finding them.
- At Yakiniku, Shabu-Shabu, and Hot PotGrilling your own meat at yakiniku, swishing thin slices at shabu-shabu, and sharing from the pot — the customs behind each.
Dishes in the same style
- Shabu-shabuPaper-thin beef swished through simmering broth and eaten with sesame or ponzu sauce. It is said to have taken a hint from Beijing's lamb hot pot, shuan yang rou, and both Osaka and Kyoto have restaurant accounts of how it was devised.
- Aichi Miso OdenA pot of sweet red miso sits in the center of the simmering pot, and daikon, tofu, and other ingredients simmered in dashi are dipped into it before eating. While soy-based Kanto-style oden spread in Edo, Aichi is said to have settled on dipping in soybean miso instead.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Related lineage
- Buri DaikonYellowtail trimmings are slow-simmered with daikon, the signature dish built on Toyama Bay's winter yellowtail — fish landed at Himi are branded "Himi kan-buri," and the custom of gifting a whole yellowtail to a newly married daughter ties the dish to marriage.
- Shabu-shabuPaper-thin beef swished through simmering broth and eaten with sesame or ponzu sauce. It is said to have taken a hint from Beijing's lamb hot pot, shuan yang rou, and both Osaka and Kyoto have restaurant accounts of how it was devised.
Also from Toyama
- Bai no NimonoWhelks from the deep waters of Toyama Bay are simmered whole in their shells — said to appear at celebrations thanks to a play on words suggesting doubled good fortune, with smaller whelks simmered and larger ones eaten raw.
- BekkoMelted agar is seasoned with soy sauce and mirin, then set with egg trailed in like threads — its amber color flecked with egg said to resemble a tortoiseshell hair ornament, giving the dish its name; in the west of the prefecture it goes by "yubeshi" instead.
- Genge no MisoshiruEelpout, a deep-sea fish covered in a gelatinous layer, is cut into chunks and simmered into a miso soup — long treated as an unwanted bycatch of sweet shrimp fishing, its flavor has since been reappraised and spread beyond the fishing villages that first ate it.
- Himi UdonA hand-stretched udon developed in Himi, Toyama, in the mid-Edo period by adapting somen-making techniques from Wajima. It was once presented to the Kaga domain as tribute.
- Hoonko RyoriA catch-all term for the dishes served at houonko, the memorial gathering held on the death anniversary of Jodo Shinshu's founder — the season's better vegetables and wild greens are said to be set aside for it apart from everyday use, with the devout Gokayama area of Nanto known for hearty stews of dried greens and local tofu.
- Hotaruika no SumisoaeBoiled firefly squid, its eyes removed, is paired with scallion and dressed in a mustard-vinegar-miso sauce — a spring dish built on squid said to have been fished from Toyama Bay's shores since the Edo period, rising in shimmering shoals each March to spawn.