Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Nabe: it's what's for dinner

A Japanese 'nabe' is basically the generic name of a very simple traditional Japanese boiled dinner. The nabe itself is the Japanese word for the pot, usually made of earthen ware or cast iron. With this particular one I chose to use seafood. Ingredients were salmon, scallops, blacktip shark, swordfish, shrimp, squid, mahogany clams, two kinds of tofu, Japanese cabbage (napa), lotus root, baby bok choi, shiitake and enoki mushrooms, scallions and daikon radish. Mrs. KG made her ever-awesome Japanese style rolled omelet as an appetizer.

All ingredients are raw/live and are cooked in a traditional broth made with a base of bonito flakes and kombu (a type of seaweed). It is most often cooked over flame at the table and ingredients are continuously fed into the pot and removed when just done, and served and eaten piping hot, as is or after being dipped in a sauce with grated daikon, Japanese ground red pepper spice (shichimi) and scallions. The leftover broth at the end is one of the best parts and is often used as a base for a rice stew, or noodle base after all the main ingredients are finished. We do seafood most often at our pace, but is done with chicken or pork as well and both are also fantastic. Outstanding meal and dead simple to do. Quality, fresh ingredients and a sharp knife are really the only things you need.

Yum!

One of my favorites though I have only had the real stuff in Thailand and Taiwan. They use a lot of noodles there.

kg,

You can get all that seafood fresh where you live, including the blacktip? And the bonito flakes?

It sure looks like something I'd enjoy. Never had it but I've tried most everything in other forms.

All that for just the two of you?

Geno

looks terrific

Looks very good....but why cook it?


Sorry if thats a dumb question!

i think over a two day period we ate whatever bait we didn't use with out cooking it.

was that before or after a jar of your shine Roger?

Geno

some of the best times in my life have been up there, my brother will be down here in a couple weeks, so looking forward to it.

Geno,

I always try to source seafood that is fresh and taken locally, but depending on seasons and things like catch quotas and what's available when I grab the ingredients, it's not always possible to get things I want to use that are fresh/never frozen. I'm all but certain that the salmon and shark were previously frozen, and the shrimp definitely were. Maybe the squid too, but not sure on that; we have squid here but I've only fished them in spring and fall.

The scallops, swordfish and clams are locally caught. I wanted monkfish, another locally caught fish, but they had none. For this kind of dish, firm-fleshed fish is best, as others tend to start breaking up in the rolling boil if you're not careful. Cod and haddock are great, but being semi-firm I guess I'd call it, has its drawbacks and can be done but the 'nabe boss'--that'd be me in our household--would wield a slotted spoon or wire ladle when fishing chunks out of the pot. As to the bonito flakes, none are fresh. They're salted and dried and/or smoked. You can get it here, though we bring ours back from Japan and shave it ourselves.

There were five of us working on that pile of food, and had some leftovers. If everything is gone at the end of a meal I cook, I didn't prepare enough.

Jim, not all seafood can safely be eaten raw, and this type of meal is one I like to serve in the winter months. The clams, scallops, salmon and squid can be prepared and eaten raw, but that's not what this dish is all about. Plus, it's kind of fun to hear the clams scream as they boil to death...

Leighton,

Once again, you have made me very hungry! Thanks for sharing with us, even if it's just the pictures.

Ed

Took awhile, but after some work finally got that old Texan boy to grow a pair and try some raw seafood. Hasn't looked back yet...

That shrimp was not caught that way.

Damn. Them some good eats. Leighton, you inspire me to progress my culinary awareness and exploration. Thank you.

You and the Texan get after any ducks out there?

cf

Thanks Leighton,

I knew about the bonito being dried, wasn't sure if you could find it in your area or brought it back with you. Makes sense, if you're coming home to bring some with.

I live so far from the ocean I very rarely see fresh seafood. Freshwater stuff doesn't count.

I love the sound of screaming clams in the afternoon, it sounds like.............victory..............................or dinner!

Thanks once again for sharing your goodies with us in a photographic way,

Geno

You sure about that? I've seen tons of them in the wild looking just like that, coming in with the moon flood tides in massive herds or flocks or whatever, all pink and white and curled up with no shell, legs, or head for that matter, spinning around and occasionally flipping out of the surf as they head for their breeding grounds. I'm privileged to have witnessed this magical phenomenon more than once. I need to have a talk with that fish monger just to confirm. I'll get back to you with the facts.

L, you're getting some mileage on a few of those pics my friend . Good to see them again !!!!!

You bet, my man. Check out how the bonito is processed. Pretty simple, right?

CFT, Rog' couldn't drag up for ducks this year, but he's been here for upland in MA, VT and NH and we've bashed puddlers, divers and sea ducks locally over a few trips. He's hosted me for ducks and Sandhills in his backyard. Made few friends in the bird world, but we tend to have fun all over when we're running around together.

Good to 'hear' from you, and hopeful is well with you and yours.