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Chicken And Vegetables Cooked In Broth With Ponzu Dipping Sauce
(Tori Mizutaki)
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| What You Need: |
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2 whole chicken breasts, boned and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 pounds Chinese cabbage
2 tablespoons salt
4 large scraped carrots, cut lengthwise into ¼-inch-widestrips
8 scallions, including 3 inches of the green stems, cut lengthwise into narrow strips
2 cakes tofu (soybean curd), fresh, canned or instant, cut into 1-inch cubes
12 small white mushrooms
12 to 14 sprigs watercress
1 quart chicken stock, fresh or canned
A 4-inch square of kombu (dried kelp), cut with a heavy knife from a sheet of packaged kombu and washed under cold running water
PONZU DIPPING SAUCE
6 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
6 tablespoons Japanese all-purpose soy sauce
GARNISH
3 tablespoons finely grated daikon (Japanese white radish), or substitute 3 tablespoons peeled, grated icicle radish or white turnip
2 scallions, including 3 inches of the green stems, sliced into thin rounds
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| How To Cook: |
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1. In a 1-quart saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Drop in the pieces of chicken and boil briskly for about 10 seconds, then drain and rinse under cold running water.
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2. Cut off the base of the cabbage and separate the leaves. Discard the inner core. In a 2-quart saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil with 2 tablespoons of salt.
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3. Drop in the cabbage and boil for 1 minute, or until the leaves wilt and shrink. Then cover the pan and boil 1 minute longer. Drain in a colander and cool the cabbage under cold running water. Drain again.
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4. Arrange the cabbage leaves one on top of another in the center of a bamboo mat or heavy cloth napkin. Starting with the wide end, use the mat or napkin to roll the cabbage into a tight cylinder. Unwrap and cut the roll crosswise into sections 1 inch wide.
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5. Bring 1cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan and drop in the carrot strips. Return to the boil, drain, and cool under cold running water.
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6. Arrange the chicken, cabbage rolls, carrots, scallions, tofu, mushrooms and watercress in concentric circles or long rows on a large platter.
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7. To make the sauce and garnish, combine the lemon or lime juice and soy sauce in a mixing bowl, then pour into individual small bowls. In other small, separate bowls or dishes place the grated daikon and sliced scallions.
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8. Set a bowl of sauce and garnish beside each serving plate. Traditionally they are then mixed together to the taste of each diner.
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9. Prepare the cooking pot (see Nabemono section) of your choice at the table and pour in the chicken stock. Add the kombu and bring the stock to a boil. Then lower the heat so that the stock keeps simmering throughout the meal.
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10. Instruct each diner to dip the food of his choice into the broth, cook it for 2 or 3 minutes, then drop it into the sauce.
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11. When all the food has been consumed, remove and discard the kombu. Ladle the broth into individual bowls and serve as a soup course.
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NOTE:
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Warm sake is particularly suitable for this winter nabe. In Japan, for an intimate home dinner, the ceramic sake bottle is often placed directly in the broth to keep it warm during the meal.
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TO MAKE CHIRINABE:
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1. Substitute white-meat fish chunks for the chicken. In this case, use water instead of chicken stock and serve with chirizu dipping sauce.
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