shabu-shabu

Shabu-shabu

Shabu-shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ, , also spelled syabu-syabu^?) is a Japanese variant of hot pot. The dish is related to sukiyaki in style, where both use thinly sliced meat and vegetables, and usually served with dipping sauces. However, it is starkly different in taste as it more closely resembles its predecessor, the Chinese hot pot; shabu-shabu is more savory and less sweet than sukiyaki. It is considered a winter dish but is eaten year-round.

Ingredients

The dish is traditionally made with thinly sliced beef, though modern preparations sometimes use pork, crab, chicken, duck, or lobster. Most often, tender ribeye steak is used, but less tender cuts such as top sirloin are also common. A more expensive meat, such as Wagyu, may also be used for its enhanced flavor and texture.

Shabu-shabu is usually served with tofu and vegetables, including hakusai, chrysanthemum leaves, nori (edible seaweed), onions, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and enokitake mushrooms. In some places, Udon, Mochi and/or harusame noodles may also be served.

Preparation

The dish is prepared by submerging a very thin slice of meat or a piece of vegetable in a pot of boiling water or dashi (broth) made with kombu (kelp) and swishing it back and forth several times. (The familiar swishing sound is where the dish gets its name. Shabu-shabu directly translates to "swish-swish".) Cooked meat and vegetables are usually dipped in ponzu or "goma" (sesame seed) sauce before eating with a bowl of steamed white rice.

Once the meat and vegetables have been eaten, leftover water (now broth) from the pot is customarily combined with the remaining rice, and the resulting soup is usually eaten last.

History

• Shabu-shabu was introduced in Japan in the 20th century with the opening of a Shabu-shabu restaurant "Suehiro"[1] in Osaka. The name of Shabu-shabu was named when Suehiro served it. After that, Suehiro registered the name of shabu-shabu as a trademark in 1955. The cuisine rapidly spread through Asia and is now a popular dish in Western countries as well^{[citation needed]}. Together with sukiyaki, shabu-shabu is a common dish in tourist hot-spots, especially in Tokyo, but also in local Japanese neighborhoods (colloquially called "Little Tokyos" or "Japantowns") in countries such as the United States and Canada.

• Its origins are traced back to the Chinese hot pot known as "shuan yang rou". Shabu-shabu is most similar to the original Chinese version when compared to other Japanese steamboat dishes (nabemono) such as sukiyaki.

Cultural References

• A recipe for Shabu-shabu exists in the PC game The Sims 2. Sims can eat Shabu-shabu to satisfy their hunger need, or offer it to another sim. This is one of many recipes available in the game.

• In the movie Lost in Translation, Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray's characters eat lunch at a shabu-shabu restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo called Shabuzen. Later on, Murray comments, "What kind of restaurant makes you cook your own food?"

• On the "Fire '77" episode of Barney Miller, Detective Nick Yemana (played by Jack Soo) is making shabu-shabu instead of his usual pot of bad coffee. The shabu-shabu Yemana is making appears to the other officers to be even worse than his coffee. Detective Wojciehowicz remarks to Yemana that his lunch "looks like garbage". Yemana speaks up for the shabu-shabu, responding "Are you kidding? This is a Japanese delicacy. Fish heads, cabbage leaves, cucumber rinds, celery tops..." As Wojciehowicz walks away, Yemana notes "Come to think of it, that is garbage..." Later on, however, the dish's integrity is vindicated, as Yemana offers the first bite of the fully cooked shabu-shabu to Capt. Miller, who is surprised to find that, though he was initially repelled by the stuff, it turns out he likes it. Yemana then begins to eat. After taking one bite of the shabu-shabu, he grimaces, and mutters "I wonder what went wrong..."

• The 2-disc DVD for Night at the Museum has a cut scene where Ben Stiller's character is trying to get investors to invest in his shabu-shabu restaurant. One of the potential investors is a dentist who comments that he doesn't think the idea of families with children and babies in a restaurant with pots of boiling water is a good idea.

• On the Japanese television show Iron Chef, famous yokuzuna Akebono had said that his three man Heya or "sumo stable" put away 60 servings of shabu-shabu in one sitting.

• In an episode of the cartoon Chowder, Schnitzel must rescue Shabu-Shabu from the Teriyaki Triad.