We often do this Chicken ball Nabe in winter. It is quick and gives a good soup. This Japanese website shows pretty much the same as we do, and we skin chicken thigh and only add bean vermicelli. When we finish almost all veggies and chicken balls, the last and the most important step is ‘Shime’ meaning the final stage. We add Udon noodle (cooked) or rice with a whisked egg.
Ingredients
<For chicken balls>
200g of ground chicken
10cm of Japanese leak or 2 spring onions, chopped
1 egg
2 tablespoon of potato starch
Salt
1 tablespoon of Sake
<Other ingredients>
200g of chicken thigh, cut in pieces
4 leaves of Chinese cabbage
1 Japanese leak, or 4-5 spring onions
4 Shiitake mushrooms
1 pack of Enoki mushrooms *if you can’t find it, you can skip
1 pack of tofu
Carrot
1 bunch of chrysanthemum *If you can’t find it, either skip this or swap with cooked spinach.
<For soup>
1 piece of kelp (Konbu)
<For dipping sauce>
“Ponzu” (Citrus infused soy sauce) sauce *Or you can make your own with soy sauce and lemon or yuzu.
Instruction
<Preparation>
1. In a clay pot, pour water up to little higher than half of the height, and add a piece of kelp.
2. Prepare chicken balls. In a bowl, add all the ingredients and mix well with a hand.
3. Prepare other stuff. Cut chicken thigh, Chinese cabbage, a leak, chrysanthemum and tofu in 3-4cm. For carrot, slice first and cut in 3-4cm. Cut the bottom part of Enoki and separate them roughly. If you like, cut Shiitake mushrooms in half.
4. If you add bean vermicelli, soak in hot water for 3 mins, then get rid of the hot water, and cut in 3-4cm.
<At table>
1. Turn on a gas burner, and start boiling the water. Once it gets boiled, take the kelp out.
2. Add chicken thigh, and chicken balls. For chicken balls, using 2 tablespoons, scoop and add in the soup. You don’t need to finish all, you can do the second batch while eating.
3. When the chicken is cooked, add the other ingredients as you wish(no need to add all of them), and when cooked, ready to eat.
4. While eating, turn the heat to the minimum, add and cook the ingredients. If you need more soup, just add water as the soup already has so much ‘umami’ from chicken and vegetables.
<‘Shime’>
Ingredients
1 pack of boiled udon noodle, or 1 small bowl of cooked rice
1 egg
Instruction
1. Clean most of the ingredients in soup.
2. Add Udon noodle or rice in soup, and cook for about 5 mins.
3. Slowly add whisked egg, making a think ribbon, then close the pot with a cover and turn off the heat.
4. Wait for 2 mins, and open the cover. As you wish, add salt or soy sauce, and some garnish such as chopped spring onion.
Link to the original Japanese recipe- http://www3.mizkan.co.jp/sapari/menu/cook/recipe/index.html?id=10931
