Akita Mashed-Rice Hot Pot (きりたんぽ鍋, Kiritanpo Nabe)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Donabe (clay hot-pot vessel), or a wide heavy pot
• •Cedar kiritanpo skewers, or clean untreated wooden dowels
• •Surikogi (wooden pestle), or a sturdy rice paddle
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Grill, fish grill, or broiler

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the rice

   Rinse the rice in several changes of water until the water runs almost clear, then drain and soak it for 30 minutes. Cook it with 2 1/4 cups water and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, then let it rest 10 minutes. Short-grain rice has the cling you need for kiritanpo; long-grain rice falls apart, and glutinous rice becomes mochi, which is a different pleasure and a different dish.

2. 2

   Shape the kiritanpo

   While the rice is still hot, transfer it to a bowl and mash it with a wet wooden pestle or sturdy rice paddle until about half the grains are broken. Wet your hands with lightly salted water and press handfuls of rice around cedar kiritanpo skewers, or clean untreated wooden dowels, making cylinders about 1 inch thick and 6 to 7 inches long. Leave a little of the grain visible. Fully crushed rice turns heavy and pasty; half-mashed rice holds together while still drinking the broth.

   The salted water keeps the rice from sticking to your hands and seasons only the surface. Don't add much salt to the rice itself, because the broth will finish the seasoning.
3. 3

   Toast the rice

   Toast the rice sticks over a grill, under a broiler, or in a dry fish grill, turning them often, until the surface is firm, dry to the touch, and lightly browned in places, 8 to 12 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes, slide them off the sticks, and cut them on the diagonal into 2-inch pieces. This toasted skin is the detail that decides the pot: pale rice dissolves, properly toasted rice softens without surrendering.

   Cedar is the Akita way, and it gives a faint clean scent. A plain untreated wooden dowel is a sensible stand-in, but oil it with nothing and wrap it with nothing.
4. 4

   Make the dashi

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in 5 cups cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat. Pull the konbu just before the water boils, when small bubbles climb the sides of the pot. Bring the water to a gentle boil, add the katsuobushi all at once, take the pot off the heat, and leave it alone for 2 to 3 minutes. Strain through a cloth and let it drip without pressing. Boiled konbu turns the stock bitter and slick; squeezed flakes push strong oily flavors into what should stay clear.

   You're guarding clarity. The dashi should be pale gold and clean, because the chicken, burdock, and rice will all speak through it.
5. 5

   Prepare the vegetables

   Shave the burdock into sasagaki, thin pencil-shaving pieces, and soak them in cold water for 5 minutes, then drain. The short soak removes harshness; a long soak steals the earthy scent you came for. Rinse the parboiled shirataki well, tear the maitake by hand, slice the negi on a slant, and scrub the seri roots carefully. Seri roots are not decoration. They perfume the broth.

6. 6

   Start the broth

   Pour the dashi into a donabe or wide heavy pot and add the soy sauce, mirin, sake, and remaining salt. Bring it to a quiet simmer, then add the chicken and drained burdock. Skim any foam that rises and cook 10 to 12 minutes, until the chicken is nearly done and the burdock bends. Keep the simmer gentle. A hard boil clouds the broth and tightens the chicken, and there is no sauce here to hide rough handling.

7. 7

   Layer the pot

   Add the shirataki, maitake, and negi in separate clusters rather than stirring everything into a muddle. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes, just until the mushrooms darken and the negi softens at the edges. Nabemono is the method, not the menu: each ingredient enters when it can give something to the broth without losing itself.

8. 8

   Add rice and seri

   Nestle the cut kiritanpo into the broth near the end and ladle a little broth over them. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes, until their surfaces turn glossy and the centers soften. Add the seri for the final minute, roots first if they are thick, leaves last. Serve from the donabe while the broth is still clear and the rice still holds its shape. If the kiritanpo begins to shed grains, take the pot off the heat. It has drunk enough.

   Don't stir after the kiritanpo goes in. Move the broth, not the rice, and it will stay whole.

Chef Tips

• •Use new-crop short-grain rice if you can, ideally Akita Komachi for the spirit of the dish. The rice should smell faintly sweet after cooking and cling without turning gluey.
• •If Hinai-jidori is out of reach, choose the best chicken thighs you can buy, with firm flesh and a clean smell. Sourcing first, always. A tired bird makes a tired broth.
• •Seri is not a garnish tossed in for green color. In winter it is the voice of this pot. Mitsuba is a sensible stand-in when you must, but it is lighter and sweeter, and the dish changes.
• •Prepared kiritanpo is perfectly usable. Warm it briefly under a broiler or in a dry pan before adding it to the pot, so the surface firms again and the broth doesn't break it apart.
• •Taste the broth before the rice goes in. It should be a little stronger than you want to sip, because the kiritanpo, mushrooms, and greens will soften it.

Advance Preparation

• •The dashi can be made two days ahead and kept refrigerated. Season it only when you build the pot, so it stays flexible.
• •The kiritanpo can be shaped and toasted one day ahead. Cool them completely, refrigerate covered, and warm them briefly before adding to the broth.
• •The burdock can be shaved a few hours ahead and kept in fresh cold water. Drain it well before cooking, or it will weaken the broth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 760g)