Hot Pot

Mizutaki hot pot is about as simple as it gets: Pile a bunch of ingredients into a hot pot. Pour in water. Turn on the heat and cook.

Sukiyaki, of course, is a classic shaved beef hot pot traditionally cooked in a special cast-iron pot. We love getting down with sukiyaki on a frigid winter night here at Brooklyn mission control. Especially when paired with a glass of great sake.

So I was talking to a Japanese chef friend named Rio Irie about clams, and he brought up something interesting. Cooking clams together with chicken in a liquid, Rio told me, creates a broth with a remarkable mouthwatering flavor synergy...

Here's an example of the spontaneity of Japanese cooking: My mother-in-law Nobuko is here to visit our baby (not us, but the baby :) ), and yesterday we took her to our local farmer's market here in Brooklyn.

Here are a series of videos from the hot pot master class Tadashi Ono and I led last month. I think you'll find them informative.

Hey all, I want to share a recipe from Tadashi and my hot pot master class last week at Tadashi's restaurant Matsuri. We cooked three terrific hot pots, including this version of the classic chanko nabe -- sumo wrestler hot pot. Dee-licious.

Here's why I'm such a huge fan of Japanese hot pots: They're so incredibly versatile -- whip them up for a quick family meal, or transform them into an elaborate feast. Case in point, last night's luxurious procession pictured above, complete with two bottles of Tattinger.

Here's the story: It's snowing like mad in Brooklyn and my wife, mother-in-law and I are stuck in the apartment waiting for my honey to begin labor. Yep, she's due any moment now -- and we're laughing that, naturally, the baby's gonna arrive smack in the middle of a major snow storm! So far, so good, but there was the little matter of lunch. We didn't feel like doing a big cooking, and we certainly weren't going out in this muck. So what to do?

Tomatoes, garlic... hot pot? When the local Japanese-language newspaper in New York, Japion, contacted us about doing a story about our hot pot book, Tadashi got inspired to create a New York-style hot pot.

My wife and I and a houseguest visiting from Japan cooked this dish on New Year's Eve from a recipe dug up in a Japanese newspaper. God, it was good.

This gorgeous hot pot, Mizutaki is one of my favorites, a rustic dish that hails from Hakata, an old section of the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka. It's simple, down-to-earth and a snap to prepare (like all hot pots!).

I thought you'd enjoy a sneak peak at the videos Tadashi Ono and I are putting together for the upcoming release of our Japanese Hot Pots cookbook.