"Michel Boucher" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:We received this from the BIL and have only instructions in Japanese.
I have been able to figure out that one needs to season it, with water brough to a boil and some
filler like a small amount of rice bran, but I have a few questions:
I don't recall much about seasoning them, but it has been many years since I last bought donabe.
Quoted message said:1. Does it go directly on an electric element? How high should I be putting the heat. How about
putting it in the oven or the toaster oven? It seems that gas is preferred but we don't have
gas. I could buy a single gas burner but I have no place to put it, the kitchen being already
stacked high with appliances as it is.
re: electric element--yes, you can put the donabe directly on the element. I've never used mine with
high heat--I would tend to be cautious and keep the temperature at medium--no higher than medium-
high (and then not for very long at that temperature). Don't put very cold liquid into a hot pot, or
hot liquid in a cold pot. You can use it in the oven, if you have need to.
Quoted message said:2. What can I cook in it? Someone on a b-board suggested making miso soup in it. I imagine it
could be used to cook rice.
Nabe. The first winter I spent in Japan I had nabe almost every night. I also used it to make fondue
once. I've not known any of my Japanese friends to use it for anything but nabe (doesn't mean they
didn't, though), but I suppose you could use it to make tagines, too. You could make some kind of
hotdish/casserole thing if you wanted to use it in the oven.
For nabe, boil some dashi (I always used instant since I was lazy) and add whatever you want--I used
to like chicken, hakusai (Chinese cabbage?), shiratake, kabocha and onions. My favourite dipping
sauce was ponzu. There are a couple of recipes at jhg.co.jprecipe index.htmlOpen ↗ for
which your donabe can be used (Under the "casseroles/nabemono dishes" heading).
Quoted message said:3. Apparently one must not use water to clean (although it's ok to use water to cook)? Detergents
are probably out too, is my guess.
You can use water to clean it (and I've used dish detergent to clean the inside, glazed part of mine--
whether or not I was supposed to is another question) but you must make sure you dry it completely
(the unglazed part in particular must be moisture-free) before using it again.
Quoted message said:I would be grateful for any other info on getting the best use out of a donabe pot you
could impart.
About the single gas burners, nabe is usually cooked at the table, as shabu-shabu and sukiyaki are.
The advantage of having one of those burners is that it keeps the nabe warm, and you can add more
vegetables, broth, or meat as needed, all from the comfort of your zabuton (since you'll be eating
your dinner at your kotatsu :-)).
rona
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